The Jobs Letter — Statistics That Matter

No.197
28 November 2003

Download this
Statistics That Matter
as a PDF file

1999 Incomes Report

Work
Employed and Unemployed

Part-Time and Full-Time Work

Income
Sources of Income

Income from the Market

Income from Benefits

Distribution of Gross Income

Distribution of Market Income

Distribution of Benefits

Age
Employment and Age

Income and Age

Benefits and Age

Ethnic
Income and Ethnic
Benefits and Ethnic

Education
Employment and Education

Benefits and Education

"Growing Gap Between Rich and Poor"
— The Jobs Letter commentary on the 1999 Incomes Report

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A Microsoft Excel file of all the data behind these figures can be downloaded from here.

Employment and
Unemployment in NZ

September 2003

The official unemployed rates are an internationally recognised figure for unemployment based on the Household Labour Force Survey run by Statistics New Zealand.
These are the latest figures for September 2003 .

Official Unemployment in NZ

ONE IN TWENTY THREE PEOPLE OFFICIALLY UNEMPLOYED IN NZ

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED IN NZ
September 2003 seasonally adjusted
88,000 people

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OFFICIAL RATE OF UNEMPLOYED
September 2003 seasonally adjusted
4.4% OR ONE IN 23 PEOPLE

DROP IN NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED
IN LAST THREE MONTHS
June 2003 to September 2003
6,000 people

. DROP IN NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED
IN THE LAST YEAR
September 2002 to September 2003
19,000 people

Source — Statistics NZ

OFFICIALLY UNEMPLOYED IN THE REGIONS September 2003
`NORTHLAND`	`8.3%`	`or one in 12 people`
`AUCKLAND`	`3.4%`	`or one in 29 people`
`WAIKATO`	`3.2`	`or one in 31 people`
`BAY OF PLENTY`	`5.0%`	`or one in 20 people`
`GISBORNE - HAWKES BAY`	`5.2%`	`or one in 19 people`
`TARANAKI`	`5.0%`	`or one in 20 people`
`WANGANUI - MANAWATU`	`5.2%`	`or one in 19 people`
`WELLINGTON`	`4.8%`	`or one in 21 people`
`NELSON - MARLBOROUGH TASMAN - WEST COAST`	`3.8%`	`or one in 26 people`
`CANTERBURY`	`4.4%`	`or one in 23 people`
`OTAGO`	`5.9%`	`or one in 17 people`
`SOUTHLAND`	`2.9%`	`or one in 34 people`
Source — Statistics NZ

REGIONS WITH A DROP IN UNEMPLOYMENT
IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS
September 2002 to September 2003
Auckland Bay of Plenty Waikato Taranaki Southland

REGIONS WITH NO CHANGE IN UNEMPLOYMENT
Wellington Canterbury

REGIONS WITH A RISE IN UNEMPLOYMENT
Northland Gisborne/Hawkes Bay Wanganui/Manawatu Nelson/Marlborough/ Tasman/West Coast Otago

Registrations at Ministry of Social Development
(formerly Winz)

PEOPLE REGISTERED AS JOB SEEKERS
WITH MINISTRY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
September 2003
138,334

NOTIFIED VACANCIES
for month of September 2003
Figures Unavailable

Source — Ministry of Social Development

The Underemployed

September 2003
104,300 people

According to Statistics NZ, the underemployed are workers who are employed part time but would prefer to work more hours

The Employed

NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN JOBS IN NEW ZEALAND
September 2003 seasonally adjusted
1,939,000 people

RISE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN JOBS IN LAST 3 MONTHS
June 2002 to September 2003
26,000

RISE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN JOBS IN LAST YEAR
September 2002 to September 2003
61,000 people

SECTORS WITH A RISE IN EMPLOYMENT IN LAST YEAR
Wholesale & Retail Trade, Construction, Education, Health & Community Services, Transport, Storage & Communication,

SECTORS WITH A DROP IN EMPLOYMENT IN LAST YEAR
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing, Manufacturing, Business & Financial

Full-time and Part-time

GAIN IN FULL-TIME EMPLOYED
IN THE PAST YEAR
September 2002 to September 2003
51,000 people

Full Time Employment
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GAIN IN PART-TIME EMPLOYED
IN THE PAST YEAR
September 2002 to September 2003
10,000 people

Part Time Employment
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...	`Full-time`	`Part-time`
`Men`	`922,200 (88%)`	`121,500 (12%)`
`Women`	`560,200 (63%)`	`324,300 (37%)`
`Total`	`1,482,400`	`445,900`
`Overall %`	`77%`	`23%`
Source — Statistics NZ

Global Unemployment Rates

SPAIN 11.4%
GERMANY 9.4%
FRANCE 9.4%
ITALY 8.5%
CANADA 8.0%
OECD AVERAGE 7.1%
UNITED STATES 6.1%
AUSTRALIA 5.8%
JAPAN 5.1%
BRITAIN 5.0%
NEW ZEALAND 4.4%

Officially Jobless

"Those without a job and wanting a job ..."

These are the statistics that are more commonly used by community workers and employment activists in New Zealand because they more accurately reflect the people who are their concern or clients.

These "Jobless" figures are also based on the Household Labour Force Survey run by Statistics NZ, but include a wider definition of unemployment, usually referred to "those without a job and wanting a job".

ONE IN TWELVE PEOPLE OFFICIALLY JOBLESS IN NZ

According to Statistics NZ, the difference between the official "unemployment" figures and the "jobless figures" is that many of the people on the jobless measurement are available for work, but not actively seeking it.

The reasons for not actively seeking work range from people being discouraged because they lack the skills needed, or were the wrong age, or that the right work was not available in their area, or they were only looking for jobs in their newspaper. This measurement also includes those actively seeking work but not yet available for it.

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF JOBLESS IN NZ
September 2003
151,000 people

OFFICIAL RATE OF JOBLESS
September 2003
7.3% OR ONE IN 14 PEOPLE

DROP IN NUMBER OF JOBLESS
IN LAST THREE MONTHS
June 2003 to September 2003
10,700

DROP IN NUMBER OF JOBLESS
IN THE LAST YEAR
September 2002 to September 2003
25,600 people

Source — Statistics NZ

JOBLESS IN THE REGIONS September 2003
`NORTHLAND`	`13.1%`	`or one in 8 people`
`AUCKLAND`	`5.3%`	`or one in 19 people`
`WAIKATO`	`5.9%`	`or one in 17 people`
`BAY OF PLENTY`	`9.8`	`or one in 10 people`
`GISBORNE - HAWKES BAY`	`9.2%`	`or one in 11 people`
`TARANAKI`	`8.4%`	`or one in 12 people`
`WANGANUI - MANAWATU`	`9.4`	`or one in 11 people`
`WELLINGTON`	`7.5%`	`or one in 13 people`
`NELSON - MARLBOROUGH TASMAN - WEST COAST`	`6.5%`	`or one in 15 people`
`CANTERBURY`	`7.6%`	`or one in 13 people`
`OTAGO`	`9.8%`	`or one in 10 people`
`SOUTHLAND`	`6.8%`	`or one in 15 people`
Source — Statistics NZ

Labour Force Participation Rate

LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE
September 2003
66.6%

Labour Force Participation Rate

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Source — Statistics NZ

Race / Ethnic

MAORI RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
September 2003
9.7% or one in 10 Maori people

PACIFIC ISLAND RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
September 2003
6.6% or one in 15 Pacific Island people

NZ EUROPEAN (PAKEHA) RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
September 2003
3.3% or one in 30 NZ European (Pakeha) people

Unemployment Rate
By Ethnic Group
sept03ethnic.gif - 3065 Bytes

Source — Statistics NZ

Age Rates and Long-term Unemployment

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
-- AGED 15-19 YEARS
September 2003
12.9% or one in 8 young people

MATURE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
-- AGED 50-65 YEARS
September 2003
2.9% or one in 34 mature people

LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED (over 6 months)
September 2003
21,500 people 24% or one in 4 of the unemployed

LONGER-TERM UNEMPLOYED (over 2 years)
September 2003
4,600 people 5% or one in 19 of the unemployed

VERY LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED (over 5 years)
September 2003
1,200 people 1% or one in 73 of the unemployed

Source — Statistics NZ

The Schemes and Subsidised Jobs

TASKFORCE GREEN 349

JOB PLUS 4,140

JOB PLUS MAORI 89

JOB CONNECTION 73

ENTERPRISE ALLOWANCE 79

ENTERPRISE ALLOWANCE with capitalisation 268

TRAINING OPPORTUNITY PROGRAMME (TOPS) COURSES) 8,205 people

YOUTH TRAINING (T.E.C.) 5,691 people

LIMITED SERVICE VOLUNTEERS (Army) 118 people

CONSERVATION CORPS 630 people

YOUTH SERVICE CORPS 83 people

ACTIVITY IN THE COMMUNITY (still counted as unemployed) 752