But the gap between the best and worst-performing states in the country appears to be widening, CommSec's quarterly State of the States economic performance report says.

My wife works in a rest home and like many of her low paid fellow workers has an individual employment contract.

The NZIER shadow board thinks the Reserve Bank should keep the official cash rate on hold at 2.5 per cent tomorrow.

What if the authorities had swiped some of the money in my bank account, in the cause of keeping the bank open for business, writes Brian Fallow.

A Waikato school is answering calls for more skilled young people in the rural sector by developing a state-of-the-art academy focused on agricultural science and business.

Electricity prices were a conspicuous exception to the subdued inflation numbers reported yesterday.

The New Zealand and Australian dollars were knocked lower yesterday after data showed China's economic recovery stumbled in the first quarter.

The New Zealand dollar has continued its rally, topping 86 US cents and charting a new record on a trade-weighted basis.

Finance Minister Bill English used a pre-Budget speech to say the Government will act to curb rising house prices which represent a risk to New Zealand's economic recovery.

The New Zealand dollar ran hot again yesterday, hitting another post-float high on its Trade-Weighted Index (TWI) and raising the possibility of overt Reserve Bank intervention to bring it back down.

Next month's Budget will show the Government remains on track to return to surplus in 2014/15, but Finance Minister Bill English signalled yesterday that that would not herald a loosening of the fiscal reins.

The number of New Zealand house sales rose to a six-year high last month and prices touched a new record.

The Government remains on track to return to surplus by 2014/15 but its current "firm" control on spending will continue beyond that date.

Young people are overlooking the agricultural technology sector as a viable, well-paid career option, says Gallagher.