Seek says job ads fell again in July, after revised figures wiped out earlier signs of growth and showed weaker conditions in the main North Island centres.
Job ads have fallen for a third consecutive month, pointing to a still-soft labour market despite vacancies growing on an annual basis.
Seek's July employment report showed job ads were down 0.8% from June.
It has also revised away earlier signs of growth, saying "recalibrated data" now showed job ads had also fallen for the past four months.
Despite the downward "recalibrations", job ads growth was still 6.2% higher year-on-year.
Applications per job ad, which are reported with a one-month lag, rose 1.6% in June, suggesting more candidates were competing for fewer vacancies.
The figures also pointed to a widening divide between weaker conditions in the main North Island centres and pockets of strength in the South Island.
Seek New Zealand country manager Rob Clark said July had brought a further decline in advertised roles, with only "pockets of growth" across the country.
"Conditions remain strongest in the South Island, while larger centres, including Auckland, Wellington and Waikato, continue to face greater headwinds."
The report said the recent fall had been driven by weaker advertising in the biggest regions.
Auckland job ads fell 0.9% in July, led by lower demand in sales, manufacturing, transport and logistics, and trades and services.
Wellington was down 1.3%, with government and defence, accounting, and healthcare and medical roles among the main contributors.
Only four regions recorded monthly growth: Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, the West Coast and Otago.
Seek said South Island growth outside Canterbury appeared to be supported by hospitality and tourism, and construction roles.
Canterbury – one of the more resilient labour markets over the past year – also declined for the second consecutive month, down 0.3%, as a fall in construction offset gains in manufacturing, transport and logistics, and trades and services.
At an industry level, mining, resources and energy showed the strongest momentum, with ads up 3.3% for the month and 38.5% over the year.
Education and training, engineering, and real estate and property also rose in July.
But construction, which has helped lift regional hiring in recent months, weakened nationally, falling 0.9%.
Healthcare and medical ads also continued to decline, falling 1.4% in July, while trades and services made the biggest contribution to the overall monthly fall.
The July figures followed official labour market data showing unemployment rose to 5.6% in the June quarter, with underutilisation also rising as the economy remained under pressure.
The report also included Seek's latest reading on artificial intelligence in job ads, although this was a much smaller part of the July labour market picture.
It said 3.7% of New Zealand job ads referenced AI or AI-related skills, compared with 2.1% in Australia.
Seek said AI references were most common in information and communication technology roles, with some growth in references to AI ethics and governance, agentic AI and generative AI.
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