Wellington shows high labour force participation

11 July 2007

Labour force participation rates for the Wellington region have tracked consistently above the national average for the past 10 years and reached an historic high of 71% at the time of the 2006 Census, a new report released today by the Department of Labour finds.

“Wellington city had one of the highest labour force participation rates in New Zealand in 2006, at 75%, compared with a national rate of 68.5%, while Porirua (70.6%) and Lower Hutt (70.6%) cities also had nationally high rates,” said Michael Styles, Labour Market Knowledge Manager Wellington, Department of Labour.

“Unemployment declined* and about 67% of the working–age population was in employment in 2006. Employment growth has been in high-skilled and skilled occupations.”

The Annual In-Depth Regional Report for the Wellington Region describes in detail the characteristics of the Wellington 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 Wellington Regional Council boundaries and, where available, the constituent territorial authority boundaries of Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt, Porirua and Wellington cities; and Kapiti, Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa districts,” Mr Styles said.

“The Wellington region is diverse in terms of scale and industry, 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.

“In 2006 employment rates were in excess of 65% for most territorial authorities and the rate was highest in Wellington city at 71.7%. Growth in employment rates has been particularly strong in Masterton and South Wairarapa districts.

“Between 2001 and 2006 employment in the property and business services industry grew the most, with nearly 5400 more jobs in 2006. Government administration and defence added nearly 4200 more jobs. The largest decline was in manufacturing, with a loss of nearly 1400 jobs between 2001 and 2006.

“On average, the qualification level of the working-age population in Wellington was higher than that of New Zealand as a whole. Compared to the national average in 2006, a greater proportion of the working age population in Wellington region had a Bachelor degree or higher – 22%; and a smaller proportion of people had no qualifications.

“Most people in the Wellington region were employed in large businesses with 37% of people in the region employed in businesses with 100+ employees, higher than the national average of 29%.

“This report provides an excellent platform for assisting with the implementation of the Wellington Regional Labour Market Strategy.”

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

* Wellington’s unemployment rate declined from 7.1% 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 wellington population information:

In 2006 448,953 people lived in the Wellington region with 179,469 living in Wellington city, 40% of the regional population and an increase of 10% from 2001. The next largest area was Lower Hutt city (97,704 residents, up 2%), followed by Porirua city (48,549 residents, up 2%). As a whole, the Wellington regional population grew by more than 25,000 people, or 6%, between 2001 and 2006.