The Canterbury job market is returning to pre-earthquake levels.

New figures show the job market is up less than one percent in the past month, and just under eight percent in the last 12 months.

High numbers of labourer and machinery operating jobs are being offset by a drop in construction jobs.

MBIE's acting labour market trends manager Stuart King said it's a good time if you're a labourer.

"There is a lot of demand for it. That would be the indication we are getting from this data."

The slow growth comes as construction jobs drop to a four-year low. King said it's a clear sign.

"There is still a lot of heavy commercial sector to go up but we are past the peak levels of demand we experienced right after the earthquake."

However he said the minor increases are positive.

"False percentage growth, that still translates into a lot of jobs for a big area like Canterbury same with Auckland and Wellington which have similar sort of growth levels."