Labour Market Reports - Archive
Employment & unemployment - at a Glance
Published: 7 November 2008
Description
This report presents Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) results for the September 2008 quarter. The HLFS was released by Statistics New Zealand on 6 November 2008.
Link to full report
Employment and Unemployment HTML | PDF [46 KB, 6 pages]
Summary
The HLFS showed the labour market continued to ease over the September 2008 quarter, in line with other surveys. While employment rose by 0.1% over the quarter, the unemployment rate rose from 3.9% to 4.2%, the highest rate since the December 2003 quarter. The softening in the labour market in the September 2008 quarter reflects the economic downturn which has seen a contraction in GDP over the first half of 2008.
Labour Market Summary
Over the first three quarters of 2008, we have seen relatively steady employment and participation but a rising unemployment rate. While today’s results should be interpreted as a softening of the New Zealand labour market, the easing is not as marked as many commentators expected (0.6% fall in employment and a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.3%). The economic outlook has worsened significantly in recent months, however, and we expect the labour market to ease further as a result, albeit from a position of historical strength.
Related information
Household Labour Force Survey data from Statistics New Zealand [external link]
Quick facts about the labour market
Future updates
This is a regular report – the next update is due in February 2009. Reports from previous periods can be found in archive
Author or contact details
For further information please contact the Labour Market Analysis team