Indicator predicts job growth

Photo / Rotorua Daily Post

A government measure that tries to predict the path of the jobs market is forecasting that employment will grow by 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent in each of the next three quarters.

As well as being used to forecast short term employment growth, the Labour Department's leading indicator of employment is designed to give an advanced signal of turning points in the employment cycle.

It combines information about commodity prices, the labour market, migration, share prices, and the weather into a single indicator.

The latest indicator, published today, continued to increase during the September quarter and had now recorded five quarters of positive change since starting to rise in September 2009, the Labour Department said.

Social Development and Employment Minister Kate Wilkinson said the job growth forecast by the indicator was in line with other economic data and showed the labour market recovery was under way.

- NZPA