People in Southland have done better than most when it comes to having a job during the recession, according to a Department of Labour report.
In its Market Overview 2009 survey, it said Southland had been one of the strongest regional economies during the five years up until the survey period ended in September.
"Wellington was also a strong performer," the report said. "These regions not only have a high proportion of the working-age population participating in the labour force but also a low proportion of people unemployed."
According to the report, Southland had the highest employment rate with 70.6 per cent of the working-age population in work, followed by Wellington at 67.5 per cent.
Northland had the lowest employment rate during the survey period at 58.4 per cent, followed by Bay of Plenty at 61.1 per cent. The largest increase in the employment rate over the five years covered by the report was in Southland followed by Manawatu-Wanganui and Wellington.
But not doing so well, according to the survey, is Canterbury.
"While scoring highly on current labour market indicators, [Canterbury] was in the bottom half of regions when examining the change in these indicators," said the report. "This is likely to be due to its strong starting position."
Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast and Otago have performed similarly to New Zealand as a whole over the survey period, both on current labour market indicators and on the changes in these indicators to last September.
Auckland and Waikato also scored similarly to the national average when examining current labour market indicators. However, both these regions experienced weak growth.
Northland, Bay of Plenty, Manawatu-Wanganui and Gisborne/Hawke's Bay were ranked the lowest on the key labour market indicators in the report. People in these regions are not only less likely to participate in the labour force but are also less likely to find a job if they looked for one.
The report said there were common factors among these four regions in that they were relatively rural areas with large primary sectors and a higher than average proportion of low skilled jobs. They also had a large proportion of people aged over 65 years and a population with fewer qualifications than the national average.
With the exception of the Bay of Plenty, the survey does show things have improved on the work front in these regions.
As a result, they have generally "caught up" with the rest of New Zealand, the report's writers said.
However, they were concerned that the downturn in the labour market had particularly affected regions with below average labour market outcomes, such as Northland and Gisborne/Hawkes Bay.
The unemployment rate in these two regions has spiked sharply and, according to the report, there is a risk the current downturn could cause regional differences and inequalities to increase and reverses the gains achieved over the prior four years [to September last year].
As the labour market has eased, northern regions appear to have been the most affected. Northland's unemployment rate has risen from 4.7 per cent to 8.3 per cent while Gisborne/Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Auckland all experienced larger than average increases in the unemployment rate.
The slowdown in employment over the year to last September has been driven by the Auckland region where employment has fallen by 2.8 per cent, or more than 19,000 people, due to employment declines in manufacturing, retail trade and finance and insurance.
At the time of writing this review of regional data, it is impossible to know how employment levels in each area has changed, given that more recent job data shows the country's economy is starting to bounce back.
For example, the Department of Labour's market update, released this month (May 2010) shows that the number of people in employment rose by 1 per cent (22,000 people), over the March 2010 quarter. The rise in employment was driven entirely by a 1.6 per cent rise in the number of people in full-time work.
The report said the rise in employment was consistent with what job advertisement data, opinion surveys and anecdotal evidence have been pointing to. It also confirms the economic recovery that began in the June 2009 quarter has filtered through to the labour market and that the rise in employment intentions since late last year has led to actual hiring by firms. Employment is now only 1.4 per cent below its December 2008 peak.
By industry, employment growth over the March quarter was driven by growth in arts, recreation and other services as well as manufacturing, construction and retail and wholesale trade.
The Department of Labour's Jobs Online index shows that job advertisements have increased over the three months to the end of April - the tenth consecutive month where the number of job advertisements has increased.
The index shows that the number of advertised skilled jobs increased by 8.5 per cent and total advertisements increased by 8.6 per cent. On an annual basis, the number of advertised vacancies for skilled jobs was up 14.3 per cent.
The Department of Labour says the unemployment rate reached its peak in the December 2009 quarter, although it may fluctuate below the 7.1 per cent mark as the year progresses.
Employment on the other hand looks to be on an upward trend. In line with rising employment intentions in the National Bank Business Outlook and an increase in the Department's Jobs Online indicator, the Department expects further increases in employment this year, although not as strong as the 1 per cent growth recorded in the March 2010 quarter.
The department also says vacancies for skilled people have also increased across most regions in the three months to the end of April. Growth was particularly strong in the North Island with vacancies in Wellington up by 15.6 per cent, Auckland up by 8.5 per cent and the rest of the North Island up by 8.8 per cent.
In the South Island (excluding Christchurch), advertised skilled vacancies increased by 7.3 per cent. Christchurch had a slight decline in advertised skilled vacancies of 3.4 per cent. However, vacancies there did not fall as far as in other regions during the recession, and are 2.2 per cent higher than in July 2009 when the index was at its lowest.
Regions race to recovery
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.