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The results show that:

both employment and unemployment increased slightly this quarter, that there was an overall increase in the size of the labour force due to a slightly higher participation rate and a slightly higher working age population,
and that the unemployment rate was up 0.1 percentage points to 6.6%.
Over the year employment growth in Canterbury was down 26,800 (8.0%) which was more than balanced by strong employment growth in Auckland (up 58,900 or 9.1% over the year). The Canterbury unemployment rate increased to 5.5% over the same period, but remains below the national average.

Employment increased by 5,000 (0.2%) over the quarter. Female employment fell 4,000 (-0.4%), while male employment grew by 10,000 (0.9%).
Actual hours worked increased by 1.0%. With full-time employment growth of 8,000 (0.4%) and a reduction in part-time employment of 3,000 (-0.6%) this indicates that firms continue to increase worker hours rather than employ new staff.
Financial and insurance services (10.7%), education and training (5.2%), and health care and social assistance (4.8%) had the largest annual increases in employment by industry.

The unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.6% due to a somewhat faster rate of increase in total unemployed than in total labour force participants. Of those unemployed 30.2% are deemed ‘long-term’ (over 6 months).
Unemployment rates for Maori and Pacific peoples increased this quarter and remain higher than the national average at 15.1% and 13.8% respectively.
Unemployment for young people (15 to 24 year olds) decreased from 17.4% to 16.2% over the quarter. The NEET rate (those not in employment, education or training) was 9.5% in the September quarter, down from 9.7% last quarter.
There are signs of a tightening labour market: a net 20% of firms found it harder to find skilled staff than three months ago, and online skilled vacancy adverts were up 23.1% on the year to September 2011.

Labour force participation rose slightly this quarter (up 0.1 percentage points to 68.4%), with increases for Maori and Pacific peoples, and for both genders.
Annual net migration showed a gain of 773 persons in the year to September 2011, compared with a net gain of 13,914 person in the year to September 2010. Monthly net migration was positive for the three months to September 2011, after four months of negative migration following the February 2011 earthquake. The net loss of New Zealand citizens to Australia was 34,448 in the year to September 2011, compared with a loss of 18,936 in the year to September 2010.

The qualification levels and skills of the New Zealand workforce continue to grow as younger cohorts of highly educated people move through the age groups. High levels of participation in workplace-based training and other parts of the tertiary education sector are also increasing workforce skills.

The number of people working in highly-skilled occupations has steadily increased over recent years, although long-term productivity growth remains low.
Annual wage growth was 2.0% for the year to September 2011. This follows annual wage growth of 1.9% for the year to June 2011, and is up from the nine-year low of 1.5% for the year to March 2010.

Capital investment dipped sharply during the recession, but continues to recover with investment in non-residential fixed assets increasing by 1.3% in the quarter to June 2011 (the latest quarter for which data is available).
A strong recovery in capital investment is forecast over the following two years, which will be heavily influenced by the Canterbury rebuild.

The statistics in the September 2011 quarter scorecard continue to indicate a slowly improving labour market. As economic activity gathers pace over 2012/13 employment levels should increase and the unemployment rate come down.