Monthly labour market fact sheet
The monthly labour market fact sheets have summarised high-frequency and timely data and surveys with a focus around the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market since July 2020.
On this page
The labour market fact sheet for July 2023 is the last in the series.
Data used in the Fact Sheets:
- Jobs Online data
- Quarterly Employment data
- Benefit Recipients' data(external link) — Ministry of Social Development
- Filled Jobs' data(external link) — Stats NZ
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.
Monthly labour market fact sheet – July 2023 [PDF 354KB]
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: Labour Market Statistics, Stats NZ (Data to March 2023 quarter, next release on 2 August 2023). All measures are from the Household Labour Force Survey except for average weekly hours paid, which is from the Quarterly Employment Survey. All the data except Paid Employee or Employer and Self-employed are seasonally adjusted.
Labour market since COVID-19
The New Zealand labour market remained resilient during COVID-19. In March 2020 New Zealand went into complete lockdown after the COVID-19 outbreak. The unemployment rate rose from 4.2% in the March 2020 quarter to a peak of 5.2% in the September 2020 quarter. As restrictions eased the labour market became tight, with the unemployment rate falling to a record low of 3.2% by the end of 2021. The underutilisation rate (a broader measure of spare capacity in the labour market), has fallen to between 9% to 9.3% since September 2021 from a high of 13.1% in the September 2020 quarter. This was impacted by more people moving from part-time to full-time work.
The labour market remained tight in the March 2023 quarter, with the labour force participation rate (72%) and the employment rate (69.5%) at record highs. The employment rate was driven by strong increases for both women (62.9% to 65.2%) and youth aged 15 to 19 years (39.0 to 46.7%) between the March 2019 and 2023 quarters.
The improved post-COVID-19 labour market outcomes were also seen for Māori and Pacific Peoples. Māori labour force participation rates increased to an all-time high of 70.8 percent during the March 2023 quarter. The unemployment rates for Māori and Pacific Peoples fell and are below pre-COVID-19 rates, but are still higher than for the general population.
After a period of economic recovery post-COVID-19, the New Zealand economy is now in technical recession (2 quarters of negative GDP growth). This has not yet been reflected in the labour market (it could take time to be felt), with the number of filled jobs continuing to grow. The Accommodation & food services sector is driving this growth in filled jobs, where between 2021 to 2022 it was driven by the Construction sector. Also, as the border has re-opened and migrants have returned, there is a strong increase in filled jobs for 30 to 39 year olds. This compares to when the border was closed, where there was strong job growth for 15 to 19 year olds.