NZ should hope John Key shows some common sense - tempered with heart - when he goes about trying to reduce from 328,000 the number of Kiwis on solo parent, sickness and invalid benefits, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

The New Zealand labour market remained relatively steady in the June 2011 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today, with the unemployment rate remaining at 6.5 percent. The unemployment stats, just released, were largely expected by economists...

Balancing tax and spending is not a task we can afford to cede to appointed experts...

World share markets rose overnight after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed was ready to help the US economy if there were further signs of weakness.

If you're in the right place and the right job Australia is still the lucky country ... but for many struggle street is just around the corner.