With borders reopening, it is interesting to take a look at whether early signs are pointing towards New Zealand gaining or losing residents and short-term visitors? The answer to date is that the signs are not yet clear.
The unemployment rate recently fell to an incredibly low 3.4% in September. This means that only 3 out of every 100 people who are keen to work have been unable to find a job. Can we trust this recent unemployment result and, if so, what does it mean?
54 of New Zealand's territorial authorities recorded positive jobs growth over the past year. The list was topped by places with a heavy orientation towards primary industries experiencing good returns, and areas attracting regional migrants seeking out lifestyle.
Judith Collins so elegantly put it last year that Level 3 is basically Level 4 with KFC, but she forgot to mention the extra 23% of people heading back to work.
Everyone keeps telling me we have a tight labour market. But that is not 100% true. There is actually quite a lot of slack in the labour market of people wanting to work more.
I recently spoke to Kerre McIvor on Newstalk ZB at length about how employers can solve the challenge of finding and retaining staff. COVID-19 has left some employers exposed, particularly in regions and industries that had relied on a steady stream of itinerant labour from abroad.
Benje Patterson was commissioned to estimate the economic and social outcomes of Dunedin’s arts and culture sector. The report outlined the benefits to local residents’ quality of life, as well as the reputation and attractiveness of Dunedin to its visitors.
The average lockdown wage haircut was much smaller than the fall in mortgage expenses because of lower interest rates. Consequently, in net terms, an existing homeowner earning an average income was actually better off.
Data from MSD on work ready recipients of Jobseeker Support benefits can help highlight where in New Zealand there have been the steepest job losses to date. The government’s wage subsidy scheme undoubtedly kept many New Zealanders in work. But the wage subsidy has not been able to save all jobs.
Questions regarding the future of work have recently focused my attention on understanding the sources of job creation […]
I decided to test whether new or existing businesses are the engine for jobs growth in regional New Zealand. From an economic development perspective, these insights can help inform the extent to which resources should be focused on business attraction or building up resilience of existing enterprises.