The Department of Labour produces a range of reports which focus on labour market statistics and trends in New Zealand. These reports can be catergorised into two main groups:

Statistical Labour Market Reports

These reports present and analyse the latest labour market statistics.

Canterbury Labour Market
These reports describe and analyse the labour market in Canterbury following the earthquakes that have affected that region since 4 September 2010.

Labour Market Scorecard

The Labour Market Scorecard examines a wide range of labour market indicators and assesses their contribution to economic growth. The scorecard is updated quarterly.

Employment and Unemployment

Analyses the latest quarter's release of the Household Labour Force Survey - the official source of employment and unemployment data.

Labour Market Update

Examines the latest developments in the labour market.

Likely Areas of Growth in Employment Opportunities report

This report provides analysis of where the job opportunities are likely to occur over the next three years in terms of industry and occupation, particularly for lower skilled workers.

Lead Employment Indicator (LEI)

Predicts likely turning points in employment.

Regional Labour Market Overview

Provides an overview of labour market performance throughout New Zealand's regions

External Migration Factsheet

Examines trends in permanent and long-term (PLT) migration using data collected by Statistics New Zealand from arrival and departure cards.

Economic Growth

Examines the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures and their implications for the labour market, including labour productivity growth.

Wage Growth

Examines wage growth measures for the latest quarter from the Labour Cost Index and Quarterly Employment Survey.

New Zealand Income Survey

The New Zealand Income Survey (NZIS) factsheet provides information on income statistics for people and households. The NZIS is run annually by Statistics New Zealand as a supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey during the June quarter of each year.

Productivity Statistics

Examines the latest official productivity statistics for New Zealand.

Analytical Labour Market Reports

These labour market reports apply particularly detailed analysis and interpretation to a range of labour market topics. These topics include:

• Employment Opportunities in Canterbury is a key output of Canterbury Employment and Skills Board's 'Developing Knowledge' objective. This report will inform the development of a Canterbury Labour Market Strategy to address the needs of the recovery and also long-term business growth. Employment Opportunities in Canterbury marks the beginning of research that will monitor the Canterbury labour market, to provide advice on what the government can do to help. This includes analysis as to what extent the Canterbury labour market can respond to the increased demand for labour and skills relating to the rebuild, and whether some people risk missing out on employment opportunities associated with Canterbury rebuild.

• This report provides the Carers' Governance Group with a detailed picture of the labour market characteristics of unpaid carers, and uses data from the 2001 and 2006 Censuses of Population and Dwellings.  The labour market indicators examined include employment status, educational attainment, income, and skills of carers.
  Labour Market Characteristics of Unpaid Carers

• The National Monitoring Series - this is a biennial release which looks at components of the labour market. The first report produced was focussed on Youth in the New Zealand Labour Market.
  We have completed a detailed analysis of Māori labour outcomes covering the period 2004-2009. The report was published in December 2009, and called Māori in the New Zealand labour market.
• Investigation reports - this is an ad hoc issue driven set of labour market analysis. The first example of this work is the Knowledge Economy reporting. This has been followed by a report analysing current trends in the Construction Industry and Labour force participation in New Zealand: Recent trends, future scenarios and the impact on economic growth.
• Annual In-Depth Regional Reports - These reports were produced in 2007 and 2008 covering the whole labour market and Youth respectively. While these reports are not being produced again until 2012 (they were based primarily on sub-regional Population Census data), they remain valuable baseline information on regions and Territorial Authorities.

• There was a construction boom in New Zealand between 2001 and 2008. The main finding of the paper Labour Market Adjustment in the Construction Industry, 2001–2009 is that the construction industry found a great many additional workers to meet the rapidly rising demand without very large increases in labour costs.

You can download a printer friendly PDF copy of any report from the Download section on the right hand menu.

We welcome your feedback on our analysis. If you would like to do so, please email us

You can find all previous reports in the archive.