Report provides once-in-five-year snapshot of diverse labour market

11 July 2007

Employment rates increased and unemployment* declined to some of the lowest rates in New Zealand between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses, over the diverse territory that makes up the Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast region, a new report released today by the Department of Labour finds.

“The Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast region is diverse, which is why it is good to be able to identify sub-regional statistics within this report and analyse the different layers that exist here,” said Peter Hall, Labour Market Knowledge Manager Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast, Department of Labour.

The Annual In-Depth Regional Report for the Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast Region describes in detail the characteristics of this 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 Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast Regional Council boundaries and, where available, the constituent territorial authority boundaries of Buller, Grey and Westland districts and unitary authorities of Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough,” Mr Hall said.

“Tasman had one of the lowest unemployment rates of 2.5% in the 2006 Census, half the national rate. Employment rates in this district are above average with 68.5% in 2006, ahead of the national rate of 65%. Employment growth has been in the retail trade and property and business services industries, which both added about 500 jobs between 2001 and 2006. Agriculture still accounted for 25% of Tasman employment in 2006.

“In Nelson, a relatively older population means employment and labour force participation rates are slightly behind the national rates. However, employment growth has been marginally faster than the New Zealand average, with 16% employment growth between 2001 and 2006. Much of the growth has been in high-skilled jobs. The property and business services industry added nearly 800 jobs between 2001 and 2006, followed by health and community services (more than 450 jobs) and retail trade (more than 400 jobs).

“Like Tasman, Marlborough had one of the lowest unemployment rates of 2.5% in the 2006 Census. Employment rates were also above the national rate (65%), at 67.9%.

“Marlborough is one of only two regions where agricultural employment grew between 2001 and 2006, increasing by 8% to account for 17.9% of employment. The property and business services industry added nearly 500 jobs between 2001 and 2006, followed by construction and the retail trade which both added about 400.

“On the West Coast, labour market indicators have been strong with an increased employment rate. The labour force participation rate had historically been lower than the national average, but grew to 69.4% in 2006, exceeding the national rate of 68.5%.

“Strong growth between 2001 and 2006 means the West Coast had a higher than average employment rate in 2006 at 67.1%, ahead of the national rate of 65%.

“The West Coast had some of the broadest employment growth of any region, across most occupation groups. The property and business service industry grew the fastest, adding 255 jobs between 2001 and 2006, followed by manufacturing, adding 252 jobs and construction, 220 additional jobs.”

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 Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast Region
• Read the Annual In-Depth Regional Report for each region.

* Tasman’s unemployment rate declined from 3.7% at the time of the 2001 Census to 2.5% in 2006. Nelson’s unemployment rate declined from 6.4% in 2001 to 4.2% in 2006. Marlborough’s unemployment rate declined from 4.2% in 2001 to 2.5% in 2006. West Coast unemployment declined from 6.7% in 2001 to 3.3% 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 Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast population information:

In 2006 161,385 people lived in the combined Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast region. This was spread reasonably evenly with Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough each having just over 40,000 residents each and the West Coast region having just over 31,000.