Labour market overview – seasonally adjusted
The December 2008 quarter Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) showed a continuation of the rises in unemployment and the unemployment rate, as seen over the past four quarters. Employment and labour force participation have also continued to rise.
Unemployment increased by 10,000 (10.8 percent) to reach 105,000 over the December 2008 quarter. The last time the number of people unemployed was greater than 100,000 was in the September 2002 quarter. Over the quarter, the number of people unemployed increased at a greater rate than the number of people in the labour force, resulting in an increase in the unemployment rate of 0.4 percentage points, to 4.6 percent.
Employment increased over the December 2008 quarter by 21,000 (0.9 percent), mainly due to an increase of 13,000 in male part-time employment.
The working-age population recorded stronger growth over the December 2008 quarter than any of the previous three quarters, due to positive net permanent and long-term migration. However, the labour force grew at a greater rate, resulting in an increase in the labour force participation rate of 0.6 percentage points to 69.3 percent.
Employment – seasonally adjusted
Employment increased by 21,000 (0.9 percent), to reach 2,191,000 over the December 2008 quarter. This is the highest level of employment recorded since the survey began. In annual terms, employment also increased by 0.9 percent.
Over the December 2008 quarter both full-time and part-time employment increased. Most of the growth came from part-time employment, which grew by 17,000 (3.5 percent), while full-time employment increased by 6,000 (0.3 percent).
Male employment increased by 12,000 (1.1 percent), to reach 1,169,000 over the December 2008 quarter, the highest level of male employment recorded since the survey began. This was entirely driven by an increase of 13,000 in male part-time employment, while male full-time employment remained flat. In annual terms, male employment increased by 0.7 percent, with male part-time employment rising by 11,000 (7.7 percent) and male full-time employment falling by 3,000 (0.3 percent).
The December 2008 quarter also recorded the highest level of female employment since the survey began, with female employment increasing by 8,000 (0.8 percent) to reach 1,022,000. Both female full-time and part-time employment grew over the quarter, increasing by 0.8 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. Annually, female employment increased by 1.2 percent, with female full-time employment growing moderately by 3,000 (0.4 percent) and female part-time employment increasing by 9,000 (2.5 percent).
In the survey (unadjusted) series, employment growth has been concentrated in service-based industries, particularly education, and transport, storage and communications, while the number of people employed has fallen in the agriculture, construction and manufacturing industries.
In the past year, there were significant annual increases in employment in the Bay of Plenty and Otago regions. Employment also increased significantly on an annual basis for those aged 65 and over, and decreased significantly for those aged 15–19 years.
Unemployment – seasonally adjusted
The number of people unemployed increased by 10,000 (10.8 percent), to reach 105,000 over the December 2008 quarter. The number of unemployed males increased by 3,000, to 54,000, while the number of unemployed females increased by 7,000, to 50,000, over the quarter.
Annually, unemployment increased by 28,000 (36.8 percent). Male and female unemployment both increased by 14,000.
The unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points over the December 2008 quarter, to reach 4.6 percent. In annual terms, the unemployment rate increased by 1.2 percentage points.
Over the December 2008 quarter, the female unemployment rate increased by 0.6 percentage points to 4.7 percent, while the male unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.4 percent.
In annual terms, the female unemployment rate increased by 1.2 percentage points, while the male unemployment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points.
Working-age population – unadjusted
The working-age population grew by 11,200 (0.3 percent) over the December 2008 quarter, and 36,300 (1.1 percent) over the year, to reach 3,310,000. Part of the increase was due to a 2,800 net gain from permanent and long-term migration.
In the year to December 2008, the working-age population decreased significantly in the Auckland region and increased significantly in the Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Otago regions.
Labour force participation – seasonally adjusted
The labour force participation rate for the December 2008 quarter increased by 0.6 percentage points to 69.3 percent. On an annual basis, the labour force participation rate was up by 0.6 percentage points. The total labour force increased by 31,000 (1.4 percent) over the December 2008 quarter, and by 48,000 (2.1 percent) annually, to reach 2,296,000.
The female participation rate increased by 0.6 percentage points to 63.2 percent over the December 2008 quarter. This is the highest female participation rate ever recorded by the survey. The male participation rate also increased over the quarter, up 0.7 percentage points to 75.8 percent. In annual terms, both the female and male participation rates increased, rising 0.9 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points, respectively.
Total hours worked – seasonally adjusted
The total number of actual hours worked per week decreased by 1.9 percent over the December 2008 quarter. The number of usual hours worked per week increased over the December 2008 quarter, up 0.2 percent. On an annual basis, the number of actual hours worked decreased by 2.8 percent, while the number of usual hours worked increased, up 0.2 percent.
Jobless – unadjusted
The jobless are defined as those people who are either officially unemployed, available but not actively seeking work, or actively seeking work but not available. In annual terms, the total number of jobless increased by 51,400 (35.2 percent), to reach 197,300. The number of jobless, excluding those officially unemployed, also increased on an annual basis to reach 97,800, up 24,700 (33.9 percent).
Underemployment – unadjusted
The number of underemployed people (those employed part-time who would like to work more hours) may serve as one measure of under-utilisation of labour in the economy. There were 509,000 people employed part-time in the survey series in the December 2008 quarter, 19.0 percent of whom (96,600 people) indicated a preference to work more hours. This compares with 16.3 percent for each of the September 2008 and June 2008 quarters.
In the December 2008 quarter, 22.9 percent of males employed part time indicated a preference to work more hours compared with 17.4 percent of females employed part-time.
Duration of unemployment – unadjusted
Short-term unemployment (those unemployed 26 weeks or less) increased to 74,500 in the December 2008 quarter, up from 49,200 in the December 2007 quarter. In annual terms, the number of long-term unemployed (those unemployed for more than 26 weeks) increased to 13,700 in the December 2008 quarter, up from 9,900 in the December 2007 quarter. Of the total number of people unemployed, 13.8 percent were in the long-term unemployment category in the December 2008 quarter, up from 13.5 percent in the December 2007 quarter.
| Duration of unemployment (unadjusted) |
| |
December 2007
quarter (000) |
December 2008
quarter (000) |
Short-term unemployment
26 weeks or less |
49.2 |
74.5 |
Long-term unemployment
Over 26 weeks, but not over one year
Over one year, but not over two years
Over two years
Total long-term unemployment |
7.1
1.5
1.3
9.9 |
9.3
3.1
1.3
13.7 |
| Not specified |
13.8 |
11.2 |
| Total unemployment |
72.8 |
99.4 |
Participation in formal study – unadjusted
In the December 2008 quarter, 256,000 people were participating in formal study, a 9.2 percent increase from the same quarter in 2007. Of unemployed people, 10.7 percent were participating in formal study in the December 2008 quarter. This compares with 8.2 percent of those not in the labour force, and 7.4 percent of those who were employed.
Ethnic group statistics – unadjusted
Ethnicity series are now published using the single/combination output method of classification. With the single/combination ethnicity output method, people are counted just once according to the ethnic group or combination of ethnic groups they have reported. Please refer to the technical notes of this release for more information.
In annual terms, unadjusted unemployment rates increased significantly for Pacific peoples only.
| Single/combination unemployment rate (unadjusted) by ethnic group |
| |
December 2007
quarter (percent) |
December 2008
quarter (percent) |
| European only |
2.2 |
3.2 |
| Māori only |
8.3 |
9.6 |
| Pacific peoples only |
5.2 |
7.8 |
| Asian only |
5.5 |
6.3 |
| MELAA only |
9.7 |
10.6 |
| 'Other ethnicity' only |
1.1 |
4.2 |
| European/Māori |
5.5 |
6.8 |
| Two or more groups not elsewhere included |
5.3 |
6.4 |
Note: MELAA = Middle Eastern/Latin American/African
Longer time series
The following graphs show the HLFS series for the number of people employed, the labour force participation rate, and the unemployment rate over a 15-year period. A complete time series from March 1986 onwards is available on request.
For technical information contact:
David Paterson or Lourdes Vivo
Wellington 04 931 4600
Email: info@stats.govt.nz
Next release ...
Household Labour Force Survey Population Rebase: December 2008 quarter. The revised HLFS series will be released on 8 April 2009.
The revision will incorporate population weights derived from the most recent Census of Population and Dwellings (2006), and will include Māori benchmarks. All series will be revised back to March 1986.
Household Labour Force Survey: March 2009 quarter will be released on
7 May 2009.