Waikato jobless rate under NZ average

Total unemployment has rocketed to its highest levels since June 1999, according to figures released by Statistics New Zealand yesterday showing a total of 168,000, or 7.3 per cent of New Zealanders, are not in paid employment.

The household labour force survey for the quarter ending December showed Waikato fared slightly better than other North Island regions.

Its rate of 5.7 per cent unemployed was lower than the national high of 9.2 per cent in Northland and Auckland's 8 per cent. However, all South Island regional unemployment rates were lower apart from Canterbury which had reached 5.7 per cent over the December quarter.

While the national figure reached an 11-year high, it appears the latest increases have been due to the number of people entering the labour force but unable to find work rather than from workers losing their jobs.

Unions are now demanding the Government take immediate action to create new jobs.

Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said the 168,000 people out of work at the end of last year was the highest number in 16 years.

''It raises real fears that, with unemployment still rising, we will see a peak well above 7.5 per cent and unemployment lingering on at high levels for several years,'' Ms Kelly said.

The Government's growth agenda to be announced next week must have a strong emphasis on job creation and support for struggling workers and families, she said. While the economy was emerging from recession, most people were yet to experience the benefits.

National Distribution Union general secretary Robert Reid said ''the hiss and the roar'' following the Government's job summit a year ago had evaporated. ''We have really seen nothing much happening since then,'' Mr Reid said.

But Prime Minister John Key defended his national job summit, saying it had been highly effective, and added one of its star outcomes, the national cycleway, ''is doing very well''.

Economists said the headline unemployment rate made the jobless situation look worse than it actually was, and the worst was over.

Bank of New Zealand's Stephen Toplis said the fact that only 2000 people lost their jobs in the last three months of last year showed the economy was turning the corner.

Nationally there were marked differences in the unemployment rates by ethnic group, with Maori unemployment at 15.4 per cent, Pacific peoples at 14 per cent and Middle Eastern/Latin American/ African ethnic groups at 17.1 per cent, while the unemployment rate for the European ethnic group was 4.6 per cent.

Waikato Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer Wayne Walford said the results for Waikato were interesting and could be due to collaboration between key organisations such as Opportunity Hamilton and the job summit in March.

''Because of the work done to minimise the impact [of the recession] we aren't as bad off as some of our neighbouring regions,'' he said.

Waikato's dairy industry and the global demand for milk products were likely to be another factor in the lower unemployment statistic.

The recession seemed to have had less impact in certain pockets of industry, Mr Walford said.

Nationally, manufacturing shed 28,000 jobs, the retail and accommodation sector was down 24,000; arts, recreation and other service industries were down 12,400 jobs over the whole of last year.

However, employment in the health and social care assistance increased by 15,000 over the year, Statistics New Zealand said.

The financial services sector also grew.

With high numbers of youth unemployment, Mr Walford recommended students look at ways they could gain extra work experience while studying to give them both extra income and work skills.

- © Fairfax NZ News