Employment confidence hammered

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Employment confidence has fallen to a historic low as gloom continues to stalk the job market, according to the Westpac McDermott Miller employment confidence index.

The index fell to 93.2 in the March 2009 quarter, the first time the confidence index has hit a sub-100 level since the survey began in 2004.

"After holding firm through most of 2008, employees are now admitting defeat," Westpac senior economist Donna Purdue said.

"Continued bad economic news has seen concerns around current employment conditions reach fever pitch, while expectations of future conditions have worsened."

The survey found 54 percent of respondents said jobs are hard to get, compared to 26 percent in December. A year ago 57 percent of respondents said jobs were plentiful.

In the March quarter, 28 percent of the people surveyed thought jobs would still be hard to find next year.

Purdue said the collapse in perceptions around current employment supported the view that the 0.9 percent rise in employment growth recorded in the December 2008 quarter will be more than unwound in Q1.

"Against the backdrop of perceived poor job opportunities, job security has fallen even further."

 "That is telling for consumer spending going forward. The less secure people are in their jobs, the more conservative their spending decisions are likely to be," Purdue said.

Perceptions around current and future earnings also suffered, with 25 percent of people expecting to be earning more in a year's time, down from a net 37 percent in December.

Managing director of McDermott Miller Richard Miller he wasn't surprised by historic lows in employment confidence given the economic climate.

"It is hard to see employment confidence recovering until New Zealand begins to pull out of recession."