The Māori economy is up, but Māori employment is down. What’s the deal?

A graph trending upwards over a pristine New Zealand river

The Māori economy continues to grow, while employment drops and home ownership remains a distant dream for many. Business advisor Joshua Hitchcock explains the disconnect. The Māori economy is now worth almost $70 billion. That was the headline figure of Te Ōhanga Māori 2018-The Māori Economy Report 2018 recently released by BERL (Business and Economic … Read more

Why are so many women leaving the workforce?

Covid-19 is still having a disproportionate impact on employment across the genders. Kiwibank economist Mary Jo Vergara explains the trends, consequences and what could it mean for the gender pay gap. The latest labour market statistics for the September quarter came with few obvious surprises. The unemployment rate increased to a lower-than-expected 5.3%, and the … Read more

New Zealand’s unemployment rate rises to 5.3%

Stats NZ has today released its labour market data for the three months to September, which shows an increase inline with most forecasts.  What’s all this then? According to Stats NZ’s labour market data released this morning, New Zealand’s official unemployment rate has increased from 4% to 5.3% for the three months from July to … Read more

Why the forecasters got it so wrong on the Covid unemployment rate

In this Herald Premium article, the NZ Herald’s Matt Nippert and Keith Ng pick through forecasts and data to find an economy doing better than anyone predicted. As Auckland confronts a second round of community transmission, the gap between predictions and reality might hold clues that can help government and business safeguard the economy. When … Read more

Why the hell has New Zealand’s unemployment rate just gone down?

New Zealand’s unemployment rate has just fallen, defying experts and flying in the face of everything we expected. But according to Stats NZ, the devil is in the detail. What’s all this then? In a bizarre turn of events, New Zealand’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has actually fallen from 4.2% to 4% for the June … Read more

Our unemployment statistics are ignoring those most in need of help

When is being unemployed not unemployed? A true measure would show more teens are without jobs than people who have supposedly ‘retired’, writes former Treasury senior staffer Tony Burton. Many New Zealanders feel government is not meeting the needs of the long-term unemployed. Who counts as unemployed remains an issue: A third of your taxes … Read more