"After lifting for 16 months in a row, it is hardly surprising to see a pause for breath. Such a string of increases flags very strong demand for labour," ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie said.
Auckland was the strongest of the main centres. Wellington job advertisements appeared to be flattening off and Canterbury advertisements were easing in line with the rebuild effort.
The largest cities continued to be outpaced by the regions, he said.
All but one of the less-urbanised regions were recording annual job advertisement growth stronger than any of the three main centres.
Gisborne had the top annual growth rate of job advertisements at 57.2%, Hawkes Bay was next on 41.9% followed by Waikato on 39.4%, Nelson-Tasman-Marlborough on 35.4% and Otago on 33.1%.
Auckland was on 21.5%, Southland on 17.6%, Wellington on 15.1% and Canterbury on just 0.7%. New Zealand’s overall rise was 19.6%.
The construction, utilities, manufacturing and transport sector remained the fastest sectoral driver of total job advertisements growth at present, Mr Bagrie said.
Retail, tourism and recreation and services were also contributing strongly. Despite a lift in the unemployment rate in the December quarter to 5.2%, the current strength of labour demand flagged stronger wage growth this year.
"The unemployment rate surprised forecasters by ticking back above 5% in the December quarter. However, this was due to a strong boost in labour supply. Employment grew nearly 6% in 2016. The continuing strength in job ads confirms labour demand is certainly not waning."
Even with exceptionally strong migration and, surprisingly, a further increase in labour force participation from what was already a record high, firms were reporting it was increasingly difficult to find the staff they needed. Job advertisement numbers corroborate those reports. He continued to expect stronger wage growth to be a feature of this year, Mr Bagrie said.
Otago-Southland Employers Association chief executive Virginia Nicholls was enthusiastic about the number of jobs being advertised in the South.
During January 2017, 1546 jobs were advertised in Otago, an extra 385 jobs compared with the same month the year before.
Although the unemployment rate in the three months ended December increased, the labour force had grown, participation in the workforce had increased and the workforce had expanded, which lined up with the increase in job advertisements.
Southland has also had an impressive result with job advertisements increasing by 17.6% from the year before.
There were 383 jobs advertised, an extra 61 jobs compared with January 2016, she said.
As a result of this, businesses were continuing to report it was becoming more challenging to recruit skilled staff. Tourism, along with the related service industries, construction, and health services were reporting solid growth in the region, Mrs Nicholls said.
