Unemployment drops 0.6%

The latest quarterly Household Force Survey is here. The number of people in work had the largest increase since the started in 1986. Key stats:

  • 2,234,000 people in work, up 38,000 from December.
  • Unemployed down from 161,000 to 146,000
  • Unemployment rate down from 6.8% to 6.2%
  • Under 20 unemployment rate down from 30.9% to 25.6%
  • Maori unemployment rate down from 14.8% to 13.9%
  • jobs up by 6,600 (recall the “crisis in manufacturing” manufactured by the left)
  • Total hours worked up 3.2% in the quarter
  • NZ's unemployment rate now puts it in 11th= out of 34 OECD countries, so in the top third. the average rate is 8.0%

Now the HLFS does bounce around a lot, but the strength shown here is consistent with other . It is very easy to focus on the high profile job losses, and miss all the areas where jobs are being created. An employer losing 100 jobs is a big story but 10 employers taking on 10 more staff each flies under the radar.

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