-- Job ads in New Zealand rose 0.8% month on month in March and were up 13% year on year, according to a Seek report on Friday.
Applications per job ad, which are recorded with a one-month lag, declined 2.8% month-on-month, continuing their downward trend.
The strongest monthly growth was seen in Taranaki, which rose 2.1%, followed by Southland, up 1.9%, the report said. Auckland edged down 0.1% month on month, and Wellington was broadly flat.
In industry trends, trades and services and manufacturing gained 1.8%, while transport and logistics jumped 1.9%. Construction remained unchanged, while information and communication technology edged down by 0.1%.
Artificial intelligence (AI) skill demand has grown rapidly in recent years, with job ads referencing AI rising nearly 144% since March 2025 and now more than five times higher than in 2019, although they still appear in only 2.9% of job ads.