It’s not the first time Trade Me has claimed a victory over rival headhunter Seek. And it’s not the first time Seek has disagreed.

In a recent job update from Trade Me (mailed out last week), the firm said, “There are encouraging signs in the employment market as we head into 2011, based on an analysis of 32,000 jobs listed on Trade Me Jobs from the final quarter of 2010 (Oct – Dec).”

Trade Me said that job hunter numbers ended the year on a high, “with more Kiwis visiting Trade Me Jobs than any other job board in October and December”.

We passed the update over to Seek, who came back with, “We define leadership by being the best job site, by having the most jobs, and of course by having the most active job seeking audience.

“Seek’s total UB’s audience was higher than any other job site every month last year, which is a true reflection of all potential candidates including expats considering a return to New Zealand.”

Update: Trade Me's Head of Jobs, Pete Ashby, has since told us that Trade Me has led the way on domestic unique visitors for three out of the last four months. Full story here.