Waikato region shows highest labour force participation rates

11 July 2007

Waikato region has some of the highest labour force participation rates in New Zealand, a new report released today by the Department of Labour finds.

“Waikato’s regional labour force participation rate has been above the national average since 1999. During 2006 and into 2007 the labour force participation rate has remained at an historic high of more than 69% (68.4% nationally)*,” said Brendon Gardner, Labour Market Knowledge Manager Waikato, Department of Labour. “Waikato (71%), Otorohanga (70.7%) and Waitomo (71.5%) districts show particularly high labour force participation rates.”

The Annual In-Depth Regional Report for the Waikato Region describes in detail the characteristics of the Waikato 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 Waikato Regional Council boundaries and, where available, the constituent territorial authority boundaries of Hamilton city and Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki, Waikato, Matamata-Piako, Waipa, Otorohanga, South Waikato, Waitomo and Taupo districts,” Mr Gardner said.

“Unemployment** in the region has declined and while Waikato’s employment growth of 12% was slightly below the national average (15%), this is mainly because of the industry mix in the area. Nationwide, agriculture has shed jobs and this has had a relatively large impact on the Waikato. But agriculture remains the largest regional employer, particularly dairy farming and dairy product manufacturing.

“Employment growth has been in high-skill jobs and the property and business services industry added nearly 4500 jobs between 2001 and 2006, followed by construction (2500 more jobs) and health and community services and retail trade (2000 new jobs each).”

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

* This participation rate is from Statistics New Zealand’s Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS).

* * Waikato’s unemployment rate declined from 8% 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 (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.

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 waikato population information:

In 2006 about 383,000 people lived in the Waikato region with 129,249 in Hamilton city, up 12.5% from 2001. As a whole, the Waikato regional population grew by just over 25,000 people, or 7%, between 2001 and 2006. There is a relatively large Maori population – 20%, compared with 14% nationally – and there are relatively large numbers of Asian people in Hamilton city – 10%, compared with 9% nationally.