Whanganui unemployment rate shows significant drop as average earnings rise

Manufacturing and agribusiness have experienced growth and unemployment has decreased in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley

The latest economic dashboard from development agency Whanganui & Partners shows some significant growth areas in the city during the past year.

Employment increased 1.5 per cent during 2021, with 20,973 jobs filled in the year to December. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 per cent, amounting to an 18.6 per cent decrease in unemployment from the previous year.

There were 1557 people receiving jobseeker benefits in the district in December.

Average earnings also increased 3.6 per cent to $54,386 and the number of jobs that are skilled or highly skilled increased 3.6 per cent to 9834.

Whanganui's gross domestic product annual figure of $2113 million represented a growth rate of 1.7 per cent against a national decrease of 1.2 per cent.

The annual consumer spending amount of $592.2m in Whanganui represented an increase of 7.7 per cent from 2020.

Whanganui & Partners chairman Pahia Turia said the figures compared favourably with national statistics for the same period as well as those for other regions.

"Rather than purely being a case of provincial New Zealand faring better than major centres, Whanganui's metrics also outstrip the likes of Palmerston North and New Plymouth in these areas," he said.

"We do know that some data has a lag effect and, particularly since the introduction of the protection [traffic light] framework, some sectors of the local economy have struggled."

Tourism GDP was down 25.1 per cent on the previous year and logistics, which covers transport and warehousing businesses, was down 7 per cent. Education and training dropped 3.5 per cent and creative industries experienced a GDP decrease of 3.2 per cent.

The two areas that had seen growth were agribusiness with an increase of 5.1 per cent, and manufacturing, which was up 2.8 per cent.

Turia said the downturn for hospitality and other close-contact businesses, which usually relied on tourist numbers in summer, reflected the broader national trend and the impacts of Covid-19 restrictions.

He said Whanganui & Partners was putting additional efforts into a promotional push for autumn and winter that aimed to coincide with Covid-19 management becoming less restrictive for all businesses.

Whanganui's population increased 1 per cent in 2021 to 48,400 in December.