New Zealanders are feeling less confident about the job market.
The Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index is down five points to 106.5 in the three months to December.
Westpac Bank senior economist Satish Ranchhod told Checkpoint confidence had fallen most in areas tied to the rural economy.
"We've had those very large declines in dairy prices over the past year and Fonterra's pulled down its expectations for its payout," he said.
"We can expect that to propagate through rural communities in terms of household spendings and earnings so those regions are looking a little softer than other parts of the economy."
Mr Ranchhod said employment confidence in Christchurch remained the highest of all the areas surveyed due to the city's rebuild.
Listen to Satish Ranchhod