It means 165,000 people were
unemployed last quarter – a quarterly increase of 5000 people.
Minister of Finance Nicola Willis chose to look at the positives, with an additional 15,000 getting jobs in the final three months of the year.
“The unemployment rate increased 0.1 per cent in the quarter to 5.4 per cent, fractionally below the 5.5 per cent rate forecast by the Treasury in its December Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update,” she said.
NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann told The Front Page it’s true employment rose, but only slightly.
“It means we’re seeing some job growth, or at least that it’s starting to stabilise.
“But I quite like the underutilisation rate, because the unemployment rate is very black and white. You’re either employed or not at all.
“If you work an hour or two, then you’re employed, and you’re not in the unemployment rate. But there are a lot of people in this economy who work as contractors, have part-time jobs, and would like more work.
“That number is 13%, and that’s a lot higher. That’s the number of people who consider themselves underutilised and would like to have more work in this economy, but don’t. Those people may well be really struggling with the cost of living and not be counted as unemployed,” he said.
Dann said economists predict signs of an economic recovery are still there.
“It just takes a long time on the unemployment and labour market side. It’s always a lagging indicator. There’s a lot of ‘looking for positives’ – but I think if you step back, you’ve gotta say, this is pretty lousy.
“This far into the economic cycle. It’s just taking too long. We’ve got interest rates low, we’ve got record exports, a dairy and beef sector boom, and $80 billion record export earnings in New Zealand last year. How come that’s not translating to a stronger economy?”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
Jobseeker benefitsBusiness confidence and job creationNew Zealand’s strong export performanceEconomic recovery.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.