New Zealand households' employment confidence turned positive for the first time since the third quarter of 2011, as Canterbury and Auckland dragged up an otherwise gloomy nation.
The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index rose to 100.7 in the first quarter from 99.1 three months earlier on a scale where 100 separates optimists from pessimists.
Employment data is being keenly watched after the household labour force survey for the final three months of 2012 showed the participation rate fell to the lowest level since September 2004, while employment shrank, casting doubt on the strength of the economic recovery. Today's survey results mark the fourth quarterly improvement in a row though the labour market remains subdued.
"Households' job optimism is inching up," said Westpac economist Dominick Stephens. "The fact that it's once again on a modest uptrend suggests that we may see the jobs market firming a little this year."
Households now feel safer in their own jobs, with a net 14 per cent expecting it to improve in the next 12 months, up from 3 per cent in the December quarter. Yet a net 56 per cent said jobs are hard to get a net 12 per cent expect job opportunities to reduce over the coming year, a deterioration from the net 6 per cent who saw worse times ahead in the previous survey.
