Fewer jobs were advertised in November but the long-term trend shows the labour market is still strengthening.
ANZ Bank said the number of jobs advertised fell 2.1% in the month, compared with a rise of 4.5% in October. However, the bank's job ads index is still 6.5% higher than a year ago.
Newspaper ads fell 13.5%, while the less-volatile internet ads eased 0.2%.
Looking at the annual trend, the bank's job ads index is still 6.5% higher than a year ago.
ANZ senior economist Sharon Zollner said this suggested the labour market was strengthening and that the unemployment rate would gradually decline next year.
"Job ads, if they're trending upwards, then employment tends to follow with a relatively short lag, and then the unemployment rate tends to fall as well. So this data suggests the unemployment rate will continue to fall towards 6%."
Driving the improving labour market was the fact the economy was "starting to take off", with strong gross domestic product numbers out on Thursday.
That was due to the Christchurch rebuild kicking into top gear, record high terms of trade and net migration turning around strongly, she said.
Listen to Sharon Zollner