September 2016 quarter

Quarterly Canterbury Job-matching Report - September 2016 [PDF, 1.9 MB]

Some key findings for this quarter are:

• At 72.0%, the labour force participation rate was near an historic high, and up slightly from 71.7% in the September 2015 quarter.
• The unemployment rate was 3.9%, up slightly from 3.6% in the September 2015 quarter.
• The difficulty faced by businesses in sourcing skilled workers was increasing, while unskilled workers were becoming easier to find.
• Local labour supply was tight and expected to remain so for the next 3 years as work continued on the rebuild.
• Migrants were a major source of increased labour supply, with beneficiaries moving off benefits also contributing.
• Modelling showed that the rebuild reached a ceiling of output at approximately $1.2 billion per quarter in mid-2014, and was likely to continue at this level until around mid-2017.

Previous reports

Quarterly Canterbury Job-matching Report - June 2016 [PDF, 1.4 MB]

Quarterly Canterbury Job-matching Report - March 2016 [PDF, 1.9 MB]

Skills shortage list

The Canterbury Skills Shortage List highlights occupations identified as in shortage during the Canterbury rebuild after the major earthquakes in the region.

Migrants in occupations on the lists could apply for temporary work visas under either the Essential Skills instructions or Work to Residence (Long Term Skills Shortage List) instructions. (Occupations under the Long Term Skills Shortage List instructions also have a pathway to residence available.)

View the Canterbury Skills Shortage List [PDF, 298 KB] or find out more about the Essential Skills in Demand Lists(external link) from the Immigration New Zealand website.