New Zealand's number of seasonally adjusted filled jobs held by wage and salary earners increased again in August, Statistics New Zealand said last week. This was the 16th straight month of positive annual change, according to Statistics NZ’s national employment indicator.

The figures show the number of filled jobs, which is adjusted to account for seasonal effects and movements, was up 2.1 percent in August 2011 compared with August 2010 – the biggest annual increase since April 2008. On a monthly basis, filled jobs were up 1.1 percent from July.

"This month's increase appears to be due to a jump in short-term employment," industry and labour statistics manager Diane Ramsay said. "Firms traditionally associated with short-term employment have more people on their books."