2000 more collecting the dole

The number of people on the unemployment benefit has jumped in the past month, while the total number of people claiming a benefit has also gone up, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.

About 2000 more people applied to be on the unemployment benefit last month, Ms Bennett revealed yesterday.

The number of people on any welfare benefit rose by 1.1 per cent.

She said the increase in those receiving the unemployment benefit was expected, caused in large part to seasonal work coming to an end.

"We knew recovering from a recession would be a long and bumpy road, but there are pockets of success."

Auckland and Wellington fared well in June, with the numbers on benefits dropping 2.9 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.

In June, there were 332,924 people on benefits, with 62,085 of them on the unemployment benefit.

"Clearly, big urban areas like Auckland are an important part of the recovery picture. Hit first and worst, cities tend to recover first, too," Ms Bennett said.

David Lowe, of the Employers and Manufacturers' Association, agreed that the seasonal shifts had been a factor in unemployment benefits. However, it was good to see that more people were starting to find jobs, as shown in the Auckland and Wellington figures, he said.

"The decrease is being led by the big centres and it means that there is optimism that that will flow to other regions."

Mr Lowe, employment services manager for the organisation, said jobs, such as information technology and sales and marketing positions, were in high demand.

Following closely behind those were skilled trades.

A meeting with around 2500 members in the northern region, recently, showed the recession was still a factor in day-to-day business.

"It's abundantly clear that businesses are still finding it tough - more so in the regions than the bigger centres," he said.

BENEFICIARIES
Number of people on benefit:
* 332,924 on some type of benefit.
* Of those, 62,085 on unemployment benefit.

- Additional Reporting NZPA