NZ unemployment falls to 9-year low, wages boom

By Leith van Onselen

Statistics New Zealand has released its labour force data for the March quarter, with the unemployment rate falling 0.1% to a 9-year low of 4.4%.

Below are the key points from the release:

• Unemployment rate fell to 4.4%.
• Underutilisation rate fell to 11.9%.
• Employment rate was unchanged at 67.7%.
• Filled jobs fell 0.2%.
• Average ordinary time hourly earnings increased to $30.96.

And below are the summary tables:

As shown above, employment rose by 0.6% in the March quarter to be up 3.1% over the year, whereas the labour force participation rate fell by 0.1% to 70.8% (up 0.2% over the year).

Trend jobs growth has been strong:

Total weekly hours worked also rose by 4.9% in the year to March.

The news with respect to employee earnings is also very positive:

• Average ordinary time hourly earnings in the QES increased 3.5% to $30.96, which was the largest annual increase since the March 2012 quarter;
• Average total weekly earnings for a full-time equivalent employee increased 3.9% to $1,204.85, which was the largest annual increase since the September 2011 quarter; and
• The analytical unadjusted LCI increased 3.2, well above annual CPI inflation of 1.1%.

Finally, here’s how New Zealand’s unemployment rate (4.5%) compares against Australia’s (5.5%):

This difference helps to explain the ongoing exodus of Kiwis back to New Zealand:

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