New job listings in New Zealand’s retail sector are falling behind the national trend, according to data from major employment platform Seek.

The number of jobs advertised in the 12 months ended March – Seek’s latest available data – grew by 13 per cent. The quarter-on-quarter figure saw an increase of 3.5 per cent.

This was led by an ever-booming construction industry, up 36 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, jobs across retail and consumer products fell by 0.1 per cent; these jobs also fell 0.3 per cent on a month-to-month basis.

Decline was also seen across hospitality and tourism, marketing and communications, and call centre and customer service.

Retail was also one of three industries with no measurable AI-mentions in job adverts from 2019 to 2026.

The South Island continues to be the fastest-growing region for job adverts. Seek says this was led by Otago, Southland, and Canterbury. 

All regions in the North increase on a year-on-year basis, with all but Auckland growing month-to-month.