New Zealand's economy surged in the December quarter to the best level since mid-2007, according to the latest Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion.

House prices struck a new median price record of $389,000 last December, up 9.6 per cent on the same month in 2011, the Real Estate Institute of NZ says.

Job vacancies in Australia may be dwindling but the economic situation there doesn't appear to be stopping New Zealanders from taking their chances in search of a better life.

Air New Zealand plans to outsource some of its contact centre work in a bid to cut costs.

Less than a third of New Zealand businesses plan to hire new staff in the current quarter, with enhancing the performance and productivity of existing employees a priority.

The Prime Minister's office is standing by its tally of the number of jobs created by The Hobbit after criticism it had plucked the number "out of thin air".

Many have written about the impact of the internet and e-commerce on business.

Many have been brought up on a "follow your dream" diet only to find out too late that it doesn't always result in a job. An injection of realism is long overdue.

Low floating mortgage interest rates look set to lift in the second half of next year, economists say.

A diabetic who was fired for miscounting limes and grapefruit and falling asleep on his forklift died two months before he was awarded $12,000 for unfair dismissal.

Without an economic rising tide to lift all boats, only well-run businesses are going to outperform in the new economic "normal" growth environment.

Experts say pay packets in the real estate sector grew more than those in other industries during 2012.

The departing head of the Maori Development Ministry says Maori business has transformed in the past decade and iwi are no longer considered a risk to the NZ economy.

Dame Wendy Pye will turn 70 next year but is still getting up at 4.30am to field international calls, travelling across the world to expand her publishing business and "beating the drum" for children's literacy.

The Irish enjoy nothing more than whingeing about the weather. But internet giants say the people of Ireland should be grateful for their damp, cold climate.

Jeanette Lewis is sipping a latte and looking out over a damp market square. She checks the buses as they pass down the high street.

Brian Fallow writes: "The economy has a soggier soft patch to pull out of next year after September quarter gross domestic product came in below market expectations and the statisticians revised down growth in the first half of the year."