Unemployment At Record Lows A Reason To Celebrate

The CTU is welcoming the news that unemployment has fallen to a record low according to Statistics New Zealand. 
 

Economist and Director of Policy Craig Renney said “The fact that unemployment is at its lowest rate since 1986 will be celebrated by all those who care about workers and their conditions. Importantly, unemployment fell equally, with female unemployment falling to 3.4% alongside male unemployment of 3.3%. with falls in unemployment also registered for Maori, Pacific Peoples, and young people this suggests that the strength of demand in the labour market is broad based. Unemployment is New Zealand is now amongst the lowest in the OECD. If we continue to see levels like these in the future then the government should feel rightly proud of how its response to COVID-19 has supported working New Zealanders.”

“While the position for employment is very encouraging, the position for wages is less clear. The Labour Cost Index only showed an annual change of 2.4%, half the current rate of inflation of 4.9%. That data also showed 42% of New Zealanders not receiving a pay rise last year. The Quarterly Employment Survey shows that the average hourly earnings excluding overtime only increasing by 3.5%. Workers are working more hours. There are more workers overall. But wages are not yet sharing in this celebration.

“One of the areas that the CTU has been concerned about in the recent data is the large number of New Zealanders who want more work but can’t get it. 97,000 New Zealanders are underemployed, a fall of 11,000 since last quarter. This is welcome but shows that there is some way to go before we can state that we have reached full employment.

“The data today supports our view that we have a strong economy in which businesses and workers are showing their resilience to COVID-19 and the global economic outlook. Low unemployment, strong GDP growth, should be driving wages and the real incomes of New Zealanders workers higher. Now is the time for the government to be bold in its aspirations for the economy, in its aspirations for Minimum Wage changes, and to deliver on its agenda for employment relations," said Craig Renney.

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