Wellington, Sep 28 : The New Zealand Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index (ECI), released on Wednesday, rose by 6.7 points to 115.2 in the third quarter, the highest level for the index since June 2019. Perceptions about job opportunities remain the strongest aspect of the survey, said Michael Gordon, acting chief economist for Westpac, one of New Zealand's major bank, reports Xinhua news agency. "This likely reflects the high degree of churn among existing roles, even as outright growth in employment has stalled," Gordon said. More households reported a lift in earnings over the last year, he said. However, this measure remained well below pre-Covid-19 levels. Expected growth in earnings has also remained subdued. Official labour market data shows a strong lift in wage and salary growth in the last year, Gordon noted. "However, that's happened at the same time that the cost of living has soared. The survey results may reflect a feeling among households that they've been running to stand still." "Private sector employees are much more concerned about their future job opportunities as well as their personal job security over the coming year, while public sector employees are buoyant with a positive view of both their current employment conditions and their expectations for the future," said Imogen Rendall, Market Research Director of McDermott Miller Limited. /IANS