The labour force participation rate has been consistently rising over the past 30 years in New Zealand, providing a welcome boost to the labour supply. But can participation keep rising? Read

US President Ronald Reagan is famous for repeatedly using the phrase “trust, but verify”, underscoring the importance of testing assumptions to confirm that claims are true. It’s a phrase that economists also keep in mind when dealing with a vast array of different datasets. Read

Wages tell us a great deal about the labour market and economy. For businesses, wages reflect the price they are willing to pay for labour, and for workers, wages reflect their willingness to supply labour rather than do other activities with their time. Wages therefore tell us the point where a fir... Read

New Zealanders’ knowledge of Asia is at an all-time high. In Asia New Zealand Foundation's annual New Zealanders' Perceptions of Asia 2024 survey, 59% percent of respondents to the 2024 survey reported knowing ‘at least a fair amount’ about Asia, up from just 33% ten years ago. Here we look at the numbers behind the rising Asian population and workforce in New Zealand. Read

New Zealand has experienced an immigration surge since we reopened our border to international migrants in August 2022. Here we look at how this surge has changed the make-up of workforces across New Zealand’s territorial authorities (TAs). Read

Back in 2022, at the height of the post-lockdown boom and associated cost pressures, it was estimated that 50,000 more people would need to find themselves out of work as demand was reined in across the economy to bring inflation under control. Since then, we’ve seen a lift in unemployment of 40,000... Read

Recessionary pressures have led to a surge in youth unemployment nationally. Last week’s StatsNZ labour market statistics showed the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%. The Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) showed total unemployment up by 33,700 people, 31% higher than a year ago. More than half of t... Read

The opening of New Zealand’s borders in mid-2022 has led to an unprecedented surge in migrant arrivals. Here we look at which regions have benefitted most from this increase in the migrant labour supply. Read

Annual net migration reached a new record high of almost 129,000 people in the year to October, despite net departures of NZ citizens surpassing the previous biggest outflow that occurred in the wake of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The influx of migrants is creating renewed demand pressures in ... Read

The Monthly Employment Indicators published by Stats NZ are a valuable addition to the suite of employment measures in New Zealand. This article outlines how Infometrics is utilising this valuable data source to enhance our regional products. Read