The heat has gone out of the southern job market, according to the latest Jobs Online monthly report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
For months, Otago-Southland and Canterbury have shown monthly job growth in the skilled job vacancies.
However, in June, Otago-Southland had no monthly change and a 0.3% fall in the year ended June.
Canterbury was down 0.5% in June and up 2.7% for the year and the rest of the South Island was down 0.7% for the month and down 5.1% for the year.
Economists have been warning about the peaking of the Canterbury rebuild, although years of industrial construction await.
The MBIE report showed skilled vacancies rose in five out of the 10 regions in the past month.
The largest increase was in Waikato, up 1.1%.
The rest of the South Island had the largest fall in the month.
Overall, skilled advertised online vacancies fell by 0.3% in June.
The largest decrease was in the IT industry but there was an increase in education and training.
Also, the increase for managers (up 0.5%) was offset by the decrease for professionals.
The monthly decrease was consistent with the latest results from the ANZ Business Outlook for June, where employment intentions were down 2% from May.
Yesterday, the ANZ Job Ads series showed jobs advertised in Otago had fallen sharply into negative territory for the first time since July 2013.
Job advertisements had also fallen in other regions, including Waikato, Hawkes Bay and Manawatu, although Hawkes Bay remained in positive territory, reflecting a good year for pipfruit and tourism.
ANZ senior economist Sharon Zollner said overall job advertising data suggested demand for labour continued to ease, particularly in Canterbury, Waikato and Manawatu.
''We expect modest employment growth this year, partly due to lower economic growth and partly because of skill shortages.''
The ANZ was forecasting unemployment to remain at about its current level of 5.8% for the rest of the year.
The MBIE report showed skilled job vacancies fell in five out of eight industry groups.
The biggest fall was again in the IT industry, down 2.4% for the month and 9.7% for the year.
In contrast, there was an increase in the sales, retail, marketing and advertising industries - up 1.6%.
Skilled occupations with the highest annual percentage increases in June-year online vacancies included: other hospitality, retail and service managers, 32%; medical imaging professionals, 49%; and electrical distribution trades workers, 13%.
Structural steel and welding trades workers were the lowest-sought-after skills, up only 13% for the year.
