National Employment Indicator: June 2011
Statistics New Zealand has just released a new employment statistic, the National Employment Indicator (NEI).
It is available at http://bit.ly/raJ6yu.
The NEI is an experimental series that provides an early indication of changes in total filled jobs at a national
level. It is a monthly series, based on tax data, covering filled jobs attracting wage or salary payments during each
calendar month.
The NEI release focuses on changes in the number of filled jobs. People who had multiple jobs during the month are
counted multiple times, once for each job. We recommend focusing on the changes and movements in the NEI series, rather
than the level of filled jobs.
The NEI complements other labour market statistics produced by Statistics NZ, including the Quarterly Employment Survey
(QES) and the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS). Because of differences in coverage and timing, each of these
measures provides a different view of employment.
For example:
the HLFS counts people who have worked for pay or profit for one or more hours, including those who are self-employed
the NEI counts the number of filled jobs that received salaries or wages, and somebody who had multiple jobs is counted
multiple times.
The NEI series is available at the national level only.
For a detailed description of how the NEI and other labour market statistics are compiled, and for the latest
statistics, please see National Employment Indicator: June 2011 (pdf)