Northland unemployment at four-year low

The tourism, timber and retail industries have created more jobs for Northlanders and reduced the number of unemployed in the region to the lowest level in four years.

Northland now has fewer than 10,000 unemployed people for the first time since Work and Income was formed in 1998, with 9970 people registered as unemployed.

Work and Income regional commissioner Debbie Power said there had been a 10 per cent increase, or 5399 jobs, generated during the 12 months to June this year.

Of these 2638 jobs were for three months or more, increasing long-term employment by 8 per cent during the period.

Work and Income Northland representative Clare Blackburn said most of Northland's new jobs were in retail, tourism and hospitality, forestry, milling and timber, and horticulture.

She said the regional economy was strong and she expected the number of retail jobs in Northland to increase during the next 12 months with a new Warehouse, Spotlight and New World supermarket opening in Whangarei.

The tourism and hospitality industry continued to strengthen with the tourist season stretching further into spring and autumn than it had in the past.

The "forestry boom" was also generating more jobs in forestry, timber processing and milling.

In May the Department of Labour's Household Labour Force Study showed the number of people on benefits in Northland was dropping.

Ms Power said the region's number of unemployment beneficiaries had fallen by about 1000 in the past year.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)