Regional Labour Market reports
OTAGO - QUARTERLY REGIONAL LABOUR MARKET UPDATE - DECEMBER 2011
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The labour force participation rate in Otago stood at 70.7% during the year to December 2011 up from 68.9% the year before. In comparison, the national average participation rate was 68.4% for the year to December 2011.
The unemployment rate in Otago remained the same at 4.9% for the year to December 2011 (national average: 6.5%)
There were 2,707 working aged people receiving unemployment benefits from Work and Income in the Otago region at the end of December 2011.
BACKGROUND
This report includes information relating to the area covered by the Otago region as described below:
The Otago regional council area has a population of 193,800 and is located to the south of Canterbury and to the north of Southland. It has 5 territorial authority areas from north to south: Queenstown-Lakes with a population of 22,959; Central Otago with a population of 16,647; Waitaki with a population of 15,051; Dunedin with a population of 118,683; Clutha with a population of 16,839.
Source: Population Census 2006, Statistics New Zealand
This report is a quarterly update of current labour market conditions in the Otago region.The sources of statistics are the Statistics New Zealand Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) and the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). To counter the effects of seasonality and low sample size when making comparisons over time, the figures presented are averages for the year up to the quarter indicated, unless otherwise stated.
| Otago | New Zealand | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HLFS Indicator | year to December 2010 |
year to December 2011 |
year to December 2010 |
year to December 2011 |
| Participation rate, ann ave | 68.9% | 70.7% | 68.1% | 68.4% |
| Employment rate, ann ave | 65.6% | 67.3% | 63.6% | 63.9% |
| Unemployment rate, ann ave | 4.9% | 4.9% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Otago | New Zealand | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of December 2011 |
End of December 2011 |
% change since | |||
| Unemployment Beneficiary Indicator | ('000) | share in NZ | ('000) | December 2007 | |
| Working aged UB/UBH recipients (aged 18-64) | 2,707 | 4.5% | 59,964 | 163.6% | |
In the year to December 2011 the working-age population in the Otago region was 186,300. The labour force participation rate was 70.7% while 131,700 people were in the labour force and 54,600 people were 'not in the labour force'. Of those people who were in the labour force, 4.9%, or 6,400 were unemployed and 125,300 were employed.
Source: HLFS, Statistics New Zealand
Notes:
- Participation rate: proportion of the working-age population that is in the labour force.
- Employment rate: proportion of the working-age population that is employed.
- Unemployment rate: proportion of the labour force that is unemployed.
POPULATION
The working-age population in the Otago region is estimated at 186,300 in the year to December 2011.
LABOUR FORCE
The participation rate in Otago stood at 70.7% during the year to December 2011 up from 68.9% the year before. In comparison, the national average participation rate was 68.4% for the year to December 2011.
The number of people in the labour force in the Otago region is estimated to be 131,700 in the year to December 2011.
| annual average, % | Otago | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 02 | 65.8 | 66.6 |
| Dec 03 | 65.6 | 66.4 |
| Dec 04 | 66.3 | 67.0 |
| Dec 05 | 66.1 | 67.8 |
| Dec 06 | 67.0 | 68.3 |
| Dec 07 | 66.7 | 68.5 |
| Dec 08 | 66.0 | 68.5 |
| Dec 09 | 66.2 | 68.3 |
| Dec 10 | 68.9 | 68.1 |
| Dec 11 | 70.7 | 68.4 |
For a more detailed explanation of the labour force and the participation rate, go to the Department of Labour publication: workINSIGHT, issue 5, page 35, The Labour Market Explained: The Labour Force Participation Rate at www.workINSIGHT.govt.nz.
EMPLOYMENT
The employment rate (the proportion of the working-age population that is employed) in Otago stood at 67.3% during the year to December 2011 up from 65.6% the year before. In comparison, the national average employment rate was 63.9%.
Employment in the Otago region was 125,300 in the year to December 2011.
| annual average, % | Otago | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 02 | 61.8 | 63.0 |
| Dec 03 | 61.8 | 63.2 |
| Dec 04 | 63.7 | 64.3 |
| Dec 05 | 63.7 | 65.2 |
| Dec 06 | 64.4 | 65.6 |
| Dec 07 | 64.5 | 66.0 |
| Dec 08 | 63.9 | 65.6 |
| Dec 09 | 63.0 | 64.1 |
| Dec 10 | 65.6 | 63.6 |
| Dec 11 | 67.3 | 63.9 |
For a more detailed explanation of employment, go to the Department of Labour publication: workINSIGHT, issue 4, page 32, The Labour Market Explained: Employment at www.workINSIGHT.govt.nz.
UNEMPLOYMENT
The region's unemployment rate remained steady at 4.9% in the year to December 2011.In comparison, the national average unemployment rate was 6.5% for the year to December 2011.
The number of unemployed people in the region (as measured by the official statistics) is estimated at 6,400 for the year to December 2011.
| annual average, % | Otago | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 02 | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| Dec 03 | 5.7 | 4.8 |
| Dec 04 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
| Dec 05 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| Dec 06 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| Dec 07 | 3.4 | 3.7 |
| Dec 08 | 3.2 | 4.2 |
| Dec 09 | 4.8 | 6.1 |
| Dec 10 | 4.9 | 6.5 |
| Dec 11 | 4.9 | 6.5 |
The Household Labour Force Survey provides an estimate of all persons in the working-age population who during a particular week were without a paid job, available for work and had either actively sought work in the previous four weeks, or had a new job to start within four weeks of the survey week. These numbers will not align exactly with numbers receiving an income tested benefit such as Unemployment Benefit (see next page). There are a range of reasons for this. For example, recipients of income tested benefits can be employed part time up to specified income limits, whereas a respondent to the Household Labour Force Survey must have worked less than an hour during the week being surveyed to count as officially unemployed.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
The Ministry of Social Development has recently begun to make information on numbers receiving social security benefits available for Territorial Local Authorities. This information also supports display by Regional Council area, the same geographic basis on which other information in this report has been displayed. It will be some time yet before this is available as an annual time-series, so comparisons over time are provided for New Zealand as a whole.
There were 2,707 working aged people receiving unemployment benefits from Work and Income in the Otago region at the end of December 2011. Their characteristics are shown in the next table.
| Region | New Zealand | Region's share of New Zealand (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share (%) | Number | Share (%) | Number | ||
| Total | 2,707 | 59,964 | 4.5 | ||
| Male | 67.9 | 1,836 | 69.1 | 41,417 | 4.4 |
| Female | 32.1 | 870 | 30.9 | 18,546 | 4.7 |
| Maori | 15.2 | 412 | 37.1 | 22,246 | 1.9 |
| Pacific People | 2.7 | 73 | 8.8 | 5,246 | 1.4 |
| 18-24 years | 37.9 | 1,027 | 30.4 | 18,199 | 5.6 |
| 25-39 years | 29.0 | 786 | 31.0 | 18,606 | 4.2 |
| 40-54 years | 21.1 | 570 | 27.1 | 16,262 | 3.5 |
| 55-64 years | 12.0 | 324 | 11.5 | 6,901 | 4.7 |
These values occur against a backdrop of significant reductions in the number of current unemployment benefits over time at the national level.
| ('000) | Maori | NZ European | Pacific Island | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2007 | 8,684 | 8,706 | 1,883 | 3,475 |
| December 2008 | 11,061 | 11,804 | 2,846 | 4,797 |
| December 2009 | 22,798 | 26,049 | 7,136 | 10,345 |
| December 2010 | 23,923 | 26,409 | 6,568 | 10,184 |
| December 2011 | 22,245 | 23,728 | 5,246 | 8,745 |
Notes: Other includes not specified. Values for the end of the December quarter.
GLOSSARY
Working-age population: population aged 15 years and over.
Labour force: number of people who are either in work or are available and actively seeking work (that is, employed or unemployed as defined below).
Employment: number of people in work of one hour or more per week.
Unemployment: number of people who are not in work, but who are available for and actively seeking work.
Not in the labour force: number of people who are not in work and are either not available or not actively seeking work (that is, they are not employed and not unemployed). This includes for example, retired people, students and people at home with children.
Labour force participation rate: proportion of the working-age population that is in the labour force.
Unemployment rate: proportion of the labour force that is unemployed.
Employment rate: proportion of the working-age population that is employed.
Highly skilled workers: legislators, administrators and managers, and professionals.
Skilled workers: technicians and associate professionals, and trades workers.
Semi-skilled/elementary: clerks, services/sales workers, plant/machinery workers, and elementary workers.
Annual average: the average for a whole year (eg year to December 2006).
Annual average percentage change: the percentage change between the average for a whole year (eg the year to December 2006) and the previous year (eg the year to December 2005). Unless stated, all growth rates are annual average percentage changes.
LINKS TO OTHER LABOUR MARKET REPORTS
Annual in-depth regional labour market reports: 12 reports that provide a detailed look at the drivers of regional labour market dynamics with sub-regional (Territorial Authority) information included where available. They contain detailed and wide-ranging labour market statistics supplemented by qualitative information from the regions.
Labour market outlook: provides an outlook for the labour market over the next two years. The forecasts are detailed in a table and accompanied by descriptive analysis and a table of comparative forecasts is presented in an Appendix.
Employment and unemployment: a report that summarises results from the latest Household Labour Force Survey released by Statistics New Zealand.
Wage growth: a report that examines the wage growth measures for the latest quarter from the Labour Cost Index (LCI) and Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) released by Statistics New Zealand. A technical note and data tables are included in the appendices.
Labour Market Reports: the Department of Labour produces a range of reports which focus on labour market statistics and trends in New Zealand.
Contact: The Department of Labour at info@dol.govt.nz
Disclaimer: The Department of Labour has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this report is reliable, but makes no guarantee of its accuracy or completeness and does not accept any liability for any errors. The information and opinions contained in this report are not intended to be used as a basis for commercial decisions and the Department accepts no liability for any decisions made in reliance on them. The Department may change, add to, delete from, or otherwise amend the contents of this report at any time without notice. The material contained in this report is subject to Crown copyright protection unless otherwise indicated. The Crown copyright protected material may be reproduced free of charge in any format or media without requiring specific permission. This is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and not being used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. Where the material is being published or issued to others, the source and copyright status should be acknowledged. The permission to reproduce Crown copyright protected material does not extend to any material in this report that is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material should be obtained from the copyright holders.