Monthly labour market fact sheet
The monthly labour market fact sheet summarises high-frequency and timely data and surveys with a focus around the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market. It is designed to supplement the quarterly labour market snapshot.
On this page
About the report
The fact sheet presents key statistics on:
- Filled jobs
- Benefit recipients
- Jobseeker Benefit recipients
- Online job advertising
The overview of the most recent month is below with the PDFs for all months at the bottom of the page.
The next publication is on 21 June 2023.
Monthly labour market factsheet - May 2023 [PDF 428KB]
Overview
Headline quarterly statistics
Data up to March 2023 quarter
| Measures | March 2022 | June 2022 | September 2022 | December 2022 | March 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 2,817,000 | 2,815,000 | 2,849,000 | 2,863,000 | 2,886,000 |
| - Paid Employee or Employer | 2,439,400 | 2,442,400 | 2,462,000 | 2,486,600 | 2,500,400 |
| - Self-employed | 355,100 | 339,500 | 359,100 | 370,100 | 364,600 |
| Employment Rate | 68.6% | 68.6% | 69.3% | 69.3% | 69.5% |
| Participation Rate | 70.9% | 71.0% | 71.6% | 71.7% | 72.0% |
| Underutilisation | 279,000 | 278,000 | 273,000 | 285,000 | 277,000 |
| - Unemployment | 94,000 | 97,000 | 97,000 | 100,000 | 102,000 |
| - Underemployment | 94,000 | 95,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 91,000 |
| - Potential Labour Force | 91,000 | 86,000 | 77,000 | 85,000 | 84,000 |
| Underutilisation Rate | 9.3% | 9.3% | 9.0% | 9.3% | 9.0% |
| Unemployment Rate | 3.2% | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.4% | 3.4% |
| Not in the Labour Force | 1,193,000 | 1,190,000 | 1,168,000 | 1,167,000 | 1,164,000 |
| Youth Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) | 75,000 | 77,000 | 73,000 | 71,000 | 66,000 |
| NEET Rate | 11.7% | 12.0% | 11.5% | 11.1% | 10.3% |
| Average Weekly Hours Paid (per FTE) | 38.86 | 38.78 | 38.99 | 38.98 | 38.69 |
Source: All measures are from the Household Labour Force Survey except for average weekly hours paid, which is from the Quarterly Employment Survey. Labour Market Statistics, Stats NZ (Data to March 2023 quarter, next release on 2 August 2023). All the data except Paid Employee or Employer and Self-employed are seasonally adjusted.
The recent story
The Labour market remained tight during the March 2023 quarter with the unemployment rate at 3.4% and the underutilisation rate (a broad measure of spare capacity in the labour market) at 9%. The underutilisation rate has remained between 9.3% and 9% since the September 2021 quarter. With average ordinary time hourly earnings increasing 7.6% annually to $38.93 during the March 2023 quarter, the employment rate and the labour force participation rate both reached record highs of 69.5% and 72%, respectively.
The labour market outcomes for Māori, Pacific peoples and women remained steady over the year, tracking in line with the overall New Zealand population. There was an increased labour market participation by the Māori population. Over the year to the March 2023 quarter, 22,400 more Māori entered the labour force of whom 14,300 are employed. Likewise, the labour force participation rate for Pacific peoples rose to 69.6% over the year with an increase in the employment rate to 65.5% (up 3.2 percentage points). The labour force participation rate for women increased to 67.7%, the highest since the series began in 1986.
However, the labour market has started to indicate signs of easing. Over the year to April 2023, online job advertisements decreased by 20.7%. The All Vacancies Index (AVI) decreased for all industries except for Education which increased by 11% over the year to April 2023. Employment intentions captured in ANZ's monthly survey of business opinion have remained negative for the last 6 months. Employment intentions are negative across all industries except the Agriculture and Services sectors. The proportion of the working-age population on all benefits increased slightly to 11.1% as at 12 May 2023, up from 11% in April 2023. However, the proportion of the working-age population on JobSeeker Support remained at 5.4%. Out of 346,209 people on all main benefits, 96,966 are on Jobseeker Support – Work Ready, a reduction of 4.3% over the year.