NEW ZEALAND IMMIGRATION NEWS

Immigration NZ: Wellington jobs market grows almost 7 percent

Monday, 10 November 2008

Wellington has defied predictions of increased unemployment. In the past year, there have been 18,200 more jobs in the region, up almost 7 per cent.

Wellington accounted for almost all of the national job growth this year and Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce chief executive Charles Finny said the regional job growth put Wellington in relatively good shape to "weather the expected storm as the economy slows".

Some economists had been predicting that the unemployment rate would be 4.4 per cent by the end of the September quarter. Statistics New Zealand figures reveal that, at 4.2 per cent, the increase was less than expected. Westpac Bank said the rise in unemployment was not a "catastrophe" as most laid off workers, so far, had been able to move to sectors that have been short of workers for years, with rising numbers of jobs in teaching, health and manufacturing.

Statistics New Zealand also released figures showing that there has been a small and unexpected increase in total jobs, which are up 3,000 in the past three months. While the recent employment figures are unexpectedly positive, economists warn New Zealand jobs will not be completely immune from world events, however, economists have said that overall, the Christmas shop sales may not be as bad as feared particularly in light of last month's tax cuts and the falling cost of petrol.

ANZ Bank chief economist Cameron Bagrie said the employment figures were "encouraging". ANZ expects the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates another 75 basis points on December 4 to 5.75 per cent. He also expects they would aim to quickly reduce the cash rate to below 5 per cent next year.

Bagrie expects the recession in Europe and Japan, a weaker United States and a slowdown in growth in China and the rest of Asia will affect New Zealand. He says that "Unemployment will go up as firms respond to world events and pressure on the bottom line".

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