Although unemployment in the Hawke's Bay and Gisborne region was down at the end of the September quarter, the overall employment figures were still not healthy, Hawke's Bay Chamber of commerce chief executive Murray Douglas said yesterday.
Statistics New Zealand figures from a household labour force survey carried out throughout the country showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 6.9 per cent to 6.4 per cent overall, equating to an employment rise of 23,000 people throughout the country.
For the Bay and Gisborne region, the figures showed a fall in unemployment from 8.5 per cent in the June quarter to the latest figure of 7 per cent.
"This is good news for our area but the labour market picture remains very confused and volatile," Mr Douglas said.
"The total employment in the region is the lowest it has been in the last three years at 97,200 people. While it is normal for the participation rate to decline when employment falls, the medium-term effect of this is not helpful to our economy."
He said other data regarding household incomes and business employment intentions suggested the economy had bottomed out and that the upturn would be more gradual and subdued than many would have hoped going into the harvest season.
"We need to find ways to accelerate workplace growth, which will bring down unemployment and also grow the workforce, which drives discretionary and total spending."
The latest figures showed a divergence in labour market outcomes for men and women.
Female unemployment increased during the quarter, rising to 7.2 per cent from 6.8 per cent in the previous quarter, but the male unemployment rate fell to 5.7 per cent from 6.9 per cent.
While employment rose for males (by 21,000) and females (by 1000) in the latest quarter, the number of unemployed men fell by 15,000 and the number of unemployed women rose by 5000.
Workplace growth at low ebb in Hawke's Bay
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.