THE latest mining and resources job data has shown a slight slowing of the rebound experienced in the past year.

Industry specialists DFP Recruitment released its findings for the June quarter, showing the resurgence in job opportunities was beginning to taper off.

June figures for employment in the mining and resources sector eased 0.1% from May.

However, year-on-year vacancies are 37.6% higher than in June 2016, with a 15.8% increase since the start of 2017.

Permanent job vacancies were up 33.1% over 12 months and 16.3% over the past six months.

Temporary/Contractor job vacancies were up 43.9% over 12 months and 15.0% over the past six months, but there was only a 3.5% spike in the June quarter.

The rise was highlighted by DFP reporting its index for temporary and contract work was now at its highest point since April 2015.

In analysis of the states, Western Australia is up 38.5% in year-on-year, but experienced a decrease of 0.7% over the past quarter.

Queensland is up 31.4% year-on-year, but flat over the past quarter, up only by 0.4%.

Vacancies in the iron ore sector are up 40.1% higher than June last year, however there has been a drop of 13.8% in the last quarter.

The exploration sector has been the shining star with hiring up 50.8% in 12 months and still strong over the past quarter, up 47.3%.

Trades and Operators remain the highest occupational category index and continued to grow over the past quarter by 6.3%.

“Most Engineering professions also continue to grow with Mechanical and Production Engineers leading the way this month with strong 9.2% growth,” DFP Recruitment CEO Robert van Stokrom said.