New Zealand ANZ job advertisements for May

  • Prior was +2.1%, revised down from 2.6%
  • First negative in 5 months
  • Biggest monthly fall in since late 2010
  • ANZ says: We’re putting the fall in context: it follows four months of rises. An upward trend remains in place but it is no longer accelerating. It’s too early to tell if recent interest rate hikes may have put firms in wait-and-see mode
  • Job ads are consistent with continuing but modest employment growth. We expect the unemployment rate to gradually tick down towards 5.5% by the end of 2014. Combined with moderately higher wage increases, this should provide an essential foundation to household income growth

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NZD/USD is barely moved on the data point.