A total number of 574,498 active people joined the labour market in the second quarter of 2015 according to report from National Bureau of Statistics. The figure was above the 5.8% rate of Q1 and in line with market expectations.
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It further clarified that with an economically active or working age population of 103.5 million and labour force population of 74.0 million, the rate indicated that 29.5 million persons within the economically active or working age population decided not to work for various reasons in Q2, compared to 29.3 million in Q1 of the year. On quarter, the change was up 0.3 percent – also below expectations for 0.5 percent and down from 0.7 percent.
The Bureau stated: “The number of underemployed in the labour force during the review quarter however, increased by 1,362,274 or 11.16 per cent resulting in an increase in the underemployment rate to 18.3 per cent (13.5mn) in Q2 2015, from 16.6 per cent (12.2mn) in Q1 2015”. Public sector ordinary wages rose 0.3 percent in the quarter for a 1.2 percent annual rise. The country’s benign inflation environment and deteriorating terms of trade spurred governor Graeme Wheeler to start lowering interest rates in June, and last week he said the country’s strong migration and labour force participation were among factors supporting the economy.
Elsewhere quarterly wages including overtime rose by 0.5% leaving the annual increase at 1.8%.
Auckland reported the strongest annual employment growth, rising to 791,500 from 761,900 a year earlier, and accounting for about 44 percent of the nation’s expansion. It is also the first time it has outstripped employment growth since September 2012, said Statistics New Zealand. Canterbury jobs growth slowed, with 324,800 people employed, up from 321,600 a year earlier.
In the June quarter, the working-age population increased by 24,000 people or 0.7%, the largest quarterly increase since the series began in 1986. Northland had the highest unemployment rate at 8.6 per cent, down from 9.9 per cent.
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The old definition however created a major challenge, as those who work for less than 40 hours, were classified as unemployed.
