Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The SEEK NZ Employment Report rose at a faster pace in October, up a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent from the 0.3 percent gain in the previous month. The annual rate of growth was 36.8 percent, which BNZ said was "comfortably above" pre-COVID levels. Auckland job ads eased by 0.6 percent in October, despite the stricter restrictions, and followed an 8.1 percent drop in September. The Waikato also registered a 4 percent fall in job ads last month as part of that region went into the higher alert levels. Every other region saw gains in October after rebounding in September, as well.