NZ: ANZ job ads rose 0.6% in August – ANZ

ANZ Job Ads of NZ economy increased 0.6% m/m in August (seasonally adjusted), on the back of last month’s 3.2% rise, notes Liz Kendall, Senior Economist at ANZ.

Key Quotes

“This brings annual growth to 5.0% (3- month moving average). Recent months have seen moderate gains, but in a trend sense job ads growth has cooled, consistent with softer employment intentions out of our ANZ Business Outlook survey.”

“Our expectation is that the unemployment rate will remain broadly stable around 4.5%, consistent with continuing tightness in the labour market. But if weak business expectations and intentions start to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, there is a risk that we could see some softening in job ads growth from here. And if that weakens, strength in the labour market could start to ebb.”