Manawatu-Wanganui region shows employment growth

11 July 2007

Labour market indicators are strong for Palmerston North city and employment and labour force participation rates for the Manawatu-Wanganui region have increased between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses, a new report released today by the Department of Labour finds.

“Unemployment has declined* and employment has grown by 7.5% in the Manawatu-Wanganui region between 2001 and 2006,” said Jenny Smith, Labour Market Knowledge Manager Manawatu-Wanganui, Department of Labour.

“Employment is at 64.3% and labour force participation 67.8% for the whole region.”

The Annual In-Depth Regional Report for the Manawatu-Wanganui Region describes in detail the characteristics of the Manawatu-Wanganui 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 Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council boundaries and, where available, the constituent territorial authority boundaries of Palmerston North city and Ruapehu, Wanganui, Rangitikei, Manawatu, Tararua and Horowhenua districts,” Jenny Smith said.

“Labour force participation rates differ significantly across Manawatu-Wanganui districts with some territorial authorities having rates well in excess of the national average. Ruapehu and Manawatu districts are particularly high at more than 72%, compared with 68.5% nationally.

“Employment rates have increased and in every territorial authority except Wanganui and Horowhenua, employment rates were higher than 60% in 2006 and as high as 70% in Manawatu District.

“Employment has grown most strongly in the construction industry, which added more than 1500 jobs between 2001 and 2006, followed by property and business services (nearly 1400 jobs) and retail trade (more than 1200 new jobs).

“The demand has been in high skilled jobs and in the 2001 to 2006 period, nearly 2000 more, or 22%, legislators, administrators and managers were employed in the region.

“Growth of the labour force was strongest in Palmerston North and Manawatu district, with Palmerston North growth exceeding the national average. As the main city in the area, labour market indicators are particularly strong for Palmerston North.”

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

* Manawatu-Wanganui’s unemployment rate declined from 8.1% at the time of the 2001 Census to 5.2% in 2006. The majority of unemployment data in the Annual In-Depth Regional Reports comes from Population Census 2006 (to 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.

The 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 Manawatu-Wanganui population information:

In 2006, 222,423 people lived in the Manawatu-Wanganui region with 75,543 in Palmerston North city, 34% of the total regional population. Between 2001 and 2006 the population of the Manawatu-Wanganui region grew by 1%, compared with the national rate of 8% growth.