Canterbury shows strong labour market performance

11 July 2007

Canterbury’s labour market performance is strong with increased labour force participation rates and solid employment growth, a new report released today by the Department of Labour finds.

“Growth in the Canterbury regional labour force was slightly higher than the national average between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses, largely due to participation rates increasing slightly more than in New Zealand as a whole,” said Claire Bryant, Labour Market Knowledge Manager Canterbury, Department of Labour.

“Labour force participation rates are at historically high levels in Canterbury. Unemployment has declined* and employment growth has been in high-skilled jobs.”

The Annual In-Depth Regional Report for the Canterbury Region describes in detail the characteristics of the Canterbury regional labour market, the changes it has undergone and some key outcomes of these changes.

The report is one of 12 covering regions from Northland to Southland, which offer one of the first sub-regional presentations of data from Population Census 2006. Stakeholders, including strategy and policy makers and labour market participants, have said they want access to this information which gives a once-in-five-year snapshot of the labour market at a particularly fine breakdown.

“Information is based on the Canterbury Regional Council boundaries and, where available, the constituent territorial authority boundaries of Christchurch city; Kaikoura, Hurunui, Waimakariri, Selwyn, Ashburton, Timaru, Mackenzie and Waimate districts; and Chatham Islands Territory,” Claire Bryant said.

“Employment grew by 15% (about 30,000 jobs) in the Canterbury region between 2001 and 2006, in line with national growth. The largest employing industries were manufacturing (14% of regional employment), retail trade (14%) and property and business services (12%).

“The most growth has been in the property and business services industry, which added 7600 jobs between 2006 and 2001, followed by the retail trade (4600 more jobs) and construction (3200 more jobs).

“Compared with 2001, Canterbury residents are more highly qualified. More people had higher qualifications in 2001 compared to 2006 and fewer people had lower qualifications.”

The annual reports combine both quantitative and qualitative market information. The data comes mainly from Population Census 2006, with some additional data from Statistics New Zealand surveys and labour market information from the Department of Labour. The qualitative information has been gathered at a regional level.

• Read the Annual In-Depth Regional Report for the Canterbury Region
• Read the Annual In-Depth Regional Report for each region.

* Canterbury’s unemployment rate declined from 6% at the time of the 2001 Census to 4% in 2006. The majority of unemployment data in the Annual In-Depth Regional Reports comes from Population Census 2006 (at March 2006), which shows a national unemployment rate of 5.1%.

The Annual In-Depth Regional reports use Census of Population calculations of unemployment and other labour market variables, as estimates from this source are more robust for small areas, especially at the territorial authority level. Unemployment figures at a national and regional level are more generally sourced from the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), which shows an annual average national unemployment rate of 3.7% for the year ended March 2007.

he HLFS and the Census of Population both produce estimates of labour force statistics such as unemployment and labour force participation rates. Because these two sources are gathered differently, they can produce different estimates. The HLFS is the official measure of labour market information for New Zealand.

ENDS

Key Canterbury population information:

In 2006 more than 520,000 people lived in the Canterbury region, with 348,500 in Christchurch city. The population of Canterbury grew by 8%, or 40,000 people, between 2001 and 2006. The ethnic profile differs to the national profile. In 2006 Canterbury had a relatively large European population (75%, compared with 65% nationally) and relatively smaller Maori (7%, compared with 14% nationally), Asian (6% compared with 9% nationally) and Pacific Peoples (2%, compared with 7% nationally) population. In 2006, 17% of the population was born overseas compared with 22% nationally. More than 75% of all migrants in Canterbury live in Christchurch city.