Kiwi business people will have to be smart. Australia, for instance, is now facing strong competition in the hard commodities space from Africa.

Hoani Murray is an oil-rig boss, with weighty responsibilities and a generous salary.

If the economy ended 2012 with a reasonable head of steam up, it maintained it over the first three months of this year.

Homeowners are increasingly holding on to their properties and some would-be buyers are getting fed up with Auckland's record prices, says Quotable Value.

Housing valuations are the highest in seven years, prompting a slowdown in the market as some buyers hold off until prices become more affordable.

An Auckland game development studio has more than quadrupled its staff numbers in less than three years and says it has no plans to slow down.

Climbing house prices and a growing proportion of lending at high loan-to-value ratios are stoking fears at the Reserve Bank of a boom followed by a destructive bust.

Alesco, whose tax-avoidance battle with Inland Revenue is seen as a test case for disputes involving more than $300 million, is trying to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Apple's ring-shaped, gleaming "Spaceship Headquarters" will include a world-class auditorium and an orchard for engineers to wander.

The New Zealand government had a smaller operating deficit than expected in the first eight months of the financial year as it took in more income tax than it had forecast.

Finance Minister Bill English says Chinese investors are starting to think about New Zealand again as an investment destination, including for the state-owned enterprises share-float.

The Productivity Commission has begun an inquiry, at the Government's behest, into how productivity in the services sector might be improved.

New graduates are currently in demand in the nursing industry, but they must be eager and enthusiastic, and should never say "no" to anything.

Will an increase in KiwiSaver employer contributions be covered by dropping my base pay back?

The situation in Cyprus has been a blunt reminder that the world is still working through debt problems which could lead to more global market wobbles.

Finance Minister Bill English has asked officials what tax reforms could materially lift the economy's performance, writes Brian Fallow.

Business confidence slipped in this month's ANZ Business Outlook survey, though it remains high by the standards of the survey's 25-year history.

The overwhelming majority of Auckland information and communications technology employers are planning to hire new staff this year as new projects are rolled out and customer demand increases, research shows.

New Zealand's research and development spend rose to $2.6b last year but remains far below many other OECD countries as a proportion of GDP.

Engineering and construction started this year as hot industries for jobs. The collapse of Mainzeal flooded the market with motivated jobseekers.

Auckland and Wellington are still dragging down New Zealand's job market, despite spectacular earthquake recovery-related growth in Christchurch.

Software companies Xero and Orion Health say they will be able to absorb at least some of the workers who are set to lose their jobs at Telecom.