Labour demand continues to fall, says Stats NZ

New data from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) show demand for labour continued to decline in the first three months of the year.

According to the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) for the three months to March, published today, full-time equivalent employees (FTEs), filled jobs and seasonally adjusted total paid hours all decreased from a year earlier.

It was the second consecutive quarter to show an annual decrease in the three measures, as economic recession hits the workforce.

FTEs were down 1.7 per cent from the March 2008 quarter to 1.36 million, while the number of filled jobs decreased 1.1 per cent for the same period to 1.72 million.

Both annual falls were driven by the construction and manufacturing industries, SNZ said.

Seasonally adjusted total paid hours decreased 1.9 per cent for the year and were down 0.4 per cent in just the March 2009 quarter. The annual percentage decrease was the largest in seasonally adjusted paid hours since 1992.

The QES is the first of three March quarter data releases this week, which will show how the mess in the global economy is hurting New Zealand workers.

The releases culminate in the Household Labour Force Survey on Thursday which is being picked to show the unemployment rate rising to 5.3 per cent from 4.7 per cent.

According to the QES, seasonally adjusted total gross earnings rose 3.3 per cent for the March year and 0.7 per cent for the quarter.

A 3.3 per cent increase in total gross earnings for the year was smaller than increases of 7 per cent in the September 2008 year and 4.1 per cent for the December year.

Average total hourly earnings were up 1.3 per cent in the March quarter and 5.3 per cent in the year to March.

Private sector average total hourly earnings were up 5 per cent in the March year, with average ordinary time hourly earnings up 1.1 per cent in the latest quarter.

In the public sector, average total hourly earnings rose 4.4 per cent for the year, and in the latest quarter average ordinary time hourly earnings lifted 2.8 per cent.

BNZ chief markets economist Stephen Toplis said the data "confirmed evidence the labour market is really starting to take a hit from the recession.

"We are now seeing the first genuine signs that people are losing their jobs, and this will be a growing theme over the course of the next 12 months," he said.

While wage growth had been a little more than he expected, and hours worked were not as bad as they could be, full-time employment looked "awful".

- NZPA