Statistics New Zealand has released labour force data for the September quarter, which reveals that the seasonally adjusted number of unemployed people rose by 37,000 to reach 151,000, as the impact of COVID-19 hit the labour market. It was the largest quarterly rise in unemployment since the series began in 1986: In the September 2020
With New Zealand’s housing market morphing into a new bubble: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is being urged to reinstate loan-to-valuation (LVR) mortgage restrictions that were lifted in May: In the ASB’s Economic Weekly ASB senior economist Jane Turner said the “RBNZ’s job just got a lot trickier than usual”. “The RBNZ needs
As expected, Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party scored a stomping election victory over the weekend and is poised to govern outright holding a majority of 64 seats in the 120-seat parliament – a feat rarely achieved under the nation’s proportional voting system. Labour was expected to win, but not by this much. Even Jacinda Ardern was
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has released its house price data for September, which has reported booming sales and record high prices: As shown above, the seasonally adjusted median house price soared 14.1% year-on-year in September, with Auckland rising 11.8% year-on-year and regions outside of Auckland rising 16.3%. Sales volumes have also
Fairfax’s Peter Hartcher believes that housing policy is New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Achilles Heel: Ardern promised to lead a “government of transformation” and 2019 was to be “the year of delivery”. In fact, she committed a distinctly unmagical act: “She’s overpromised and undelivered,” says James. Mills, Labour’s pollster, agrees that this is fair.
When Jacinda Adern became New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister on 19 October 2017, we were enamoured by her excellent and comprehensive election platform. Among other things, Adern promised to fix New Zealand’s chronic housing affordability problem by both addressing supply and demand distortions via negative gearing reform, banning foreign buyers of existing homes, tightening capital
From Sky News: The federal government has today signed a trans-Tasman travel bubble which will allow New Zealand residents to travel to New South Wales and the Northern Territory without being required to quarantine. Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack announced the first step of the deal would come into effect from Friday, October 16. Under
Statistics New Zealand released its Q2 national accounts, with GDP plunging an unprecedented 12.2%: Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 12.2 percent in the June 2020 quarter, the largest quarterly fall recorded since the current series began in 1987, as the COVID-19 restrictions in place through the quarter impacted economic activity, Stats NZ said today.
A few months back, New Zealand’s Labour Party, headed by Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, was enjoying record high approval ratings from New Zealand voters and was staring at a stomping victory at next month’s general election. Then COVID-19 was reintroduced in mid-August via suspected failed hotel quarantine, which was met with renewed lockdowns: This has
Hard lockdowns across New Zealand have driven the first ever decline in annual median weekly incomes, according to Statistics New Zealand: Median weekly incomes were lower in the June 2020 quarter than they were a year ago, down 7.6 percent to $652 a week, in the wake of COVID-19, Stats NZ said today. The median
Via Stuff comes a great expose of how Indian slavery arrived in New Zealand. Over two years, a growing number of young Indian men have come forward alleging exploitation by their employer. Why does this keep happening? National Correspondent Steve Kilgallon reports. In 2016, at the height of an export education boom, 11,024 Indians came
After passing 100 days without community transmission of COVID-19, and with life returning to normal (minus international travel), New Zealand consumers threw open their purse strings: “For a third consecutive month, card spending on the long-lasting goods (durables) remained at higher levels than last year, after falling sharply during April’s COVID-19 lockdown when stores were
After recording more than 100 days of COVID-free bliss, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Adern is headed for a stomping victory at next month’s general election: In July support for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party was at 53.5% down 1% since June, but still more than double the support for National on 26.5%, down
Academics from the University of Otago have written an enlightening article in The Conversation explaining how New Zealand eliminated COVID-19: On Sunday, New Zealand marked 100 days without community transmission of COVID-19. From the first known case imported into New Zealand on February 26 to the last case of community transmission detected on May 1, elimination took
Eat this Australia: Labour market at a glance Unemployment rate fell to 4.0 percent. Underutilisation rate rose to 12.0 percent. Employment rate fell to 66.9 percent. Filled jobs fell 0.5 percent. Average weekly earnings (including overtime) fell 2.8 percent Wage rates increased 2.1 percent annually. Employment at a glance (seasonally adjusted) Jun 2020 quarter Quarterly change Annual change
With New Zealand going 75 days without community transmission of COVID-19, and having eradicated the virus, straight-talking Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has blamed Victoria’s “looseness” in hotel quarantine for causing Australia’s virus surge: “It’s awfully frustrating… and I feel a great deal of regret that looseness allowed this thing to get out of control
It is fair to say that MB has had a love hate relationship with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Adern. When she became New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister on 19 October 2017, we were enamoured by her excellent and comprehensive election platform. Among other things, Adern promised to fix New Zealand’s chronic housing affordability problem
New Zealand’s Adern Government has taken the sensible step of restricting temporary visa numbers to ensure that foreign labour does not compete against unemployed New Zealanders: Both big and small companies are scrambling to hang on to their workforces, with thousands of temporary resident visas set to expire all at once…. There were about 350,000
With New Zealand eliminating COVID-19, its housing market has experienced a sharp bounce. The median house prices across New Zealand increased by a seasonally adjusted 3.8% in the month of June and by 10.1% year-on-year: It was the 105th consecutive month of year-on-year price increases. The REINZ is triumphant: Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ
New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Adern, has opened the door for a trans-Tasman travel ‘bubble’ between Australia (ex-Victoria) and New Zealand by September: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has reiterated that the billion-dollar tourism trade trans-Tasman bubble could go ahead in September with “safe” Australian states such as Queensland… Travel industry veteran and co-chair
Very sensible. From Bloomie: New Zealand’s road to economic recovery is unlikely to include the return of foreign students this year, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. While the nation’s successful elimination of community transmission of Covid-19 should make it an attractive destination for international students, it will take some time to establish the quarantine facilities
New Zealand has suffered a mini outbreak of COVID-19 cases imported from returning travelers: After previously declaring the country was coronavirus-free, New Zealand has now recorded seven new cases within the last week. All of those cases were imported from abroad, with Ms Ardern on Monday predicting more cases in the coming weeks. She said
Statistics New Zealand has released its national accounts data for the March quarter, which reported a heavy 1.6% fall in real GDP – the largest fall in 29 years – with per capita GDP crashing 2.2%: Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.6 percent in the March 2020 quarter, the largest drop in 29 years, as
When the coronavirus pandemic was initially taking off, MB spent considerable effort urging the federal government to close Australia’s international border, alongside shutting down public gatherings. Our views were influenced by the famous experience of Philadelphia versus St Louis in the Spanish Flu of 1918, outlined in Public health interventions and epidemic intensity during the
Yesterday, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry released a plan to implement a trans-Tasman travel bubble in an effort to resuscitate the tourism sector. The plan proposed using a Canberra to Wellington route as a test path with politicians, business industry leaders and journalists first passengers on initial flights to ensure its safety before being
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will today outline its plan to implement a trans-Tasman travel bubble in an effort to resuscitate the tourism sector. The plan would use a Canberra to Wellington route as a test path with politicians, business industry leaders and journalists first passengers on initial flights to ensure its safety
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) yesterday released its bi-annual Financial Stability Report (FSR), which stated that the nation faces its sharpest economic contraction in 160 years: In New Zealand, border closures and economic lockdowns have led to an unprecedented decline in economic activity. Even accounting for an expected recovery in the second half
New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Adern’s, election promise to slash immigration looks even more ridiculous after the country’s population surged past 5 million people in record time: New Zealand’s resident population provisionally reached 5 million in March 2020, Stats NZ said today. “This is a significant event for New Zealand,” population insights senior manager Brooke
From Statistics New Zealand: Annual migrant arrivals of New Zealand citizens are provisionally estimated at 42,800 for the year ended March 2020, with almost half of these arriving between December 2019 and March 2020. This is the highest annual number on record… Annual migrant departures of New Zealand citizens are provisionally estimated at 35,700 for
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) Monetary Policy Committee has agreed to significantly expand the Large Scale Asset Purchase (LSAP) program potential to $60 billion from $33 billion: The Monetary Policy Committee has agreed to significantly expand the Large Scale Asset Purchase (LSAP) programme potential to $60 billion, up from the previous $33 billion
