Employment opportunities increase

Unemployment for men is at the lowest it has been for almost ten years. Falling from 4.8 to 4.2 per cent in the March 2017 quarter.   During the same time, as a whole, the unemployment rate fell from 5.2 to 4.9 per cent and 6,000 fewer people were unemployed in comparison to the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the number of employed people increased by 29,000 people and men provided the main contribution to this increase, with more males in both full-time and part-time employment. For the sixth quarter in a row, employment growth exceeded growth in the working-age population . This meant New Zealand’s employment rate was up by 0.3 percentage points, to 67.1 percent. Filled jobs (as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey) increased 2.4 percent over the year to the March 2017 quarter. The accommodation and food services, and construction industries contributed almost half this increase – 32,300 more jobs. “We're also starting to see construction employment build in regions other than Auckland and Canterbury,” Mr Gordon said. “Over the quarter, the Household Labour Force Survey showed a significant increase in employment in the Waikato region, which included 3,600 more people working in construction.”