Job decline continues in September 2009 quarter

Seasonally adjusted filled jobs declined for a third consecutive quarter, down 0.7 percent in the September 2009 quarter compared with the previous quarter, Statistics NZ said today. The number of seasonally adjusted filled jobs is also down 2.9 percent from the previous year, and is the largest annual decrease in the Linked Employer-Employee Data (LEED) series. Continued job losses in the manufacturing, construction, and wholesale trade industries contributed to this quarter's decrease.

In the September 2009 quarter, 96,980 jobs were created, the lowest for any quarter in the LEED series. This low highlights the continuing impact of the recession, with fewer new jobs being created in the labour market. The 12.8 percent worker turnover rate for the quarter was also the lowest in the LEED series and shows the decline in the number of workers joining or leaving employers. 

While the number of jobs held by males and females are similar, there has been a larger decline in the number of seasonally adjusted filled jobs for males than for females (down 8,669 jobs or 1.0 percent, and down 4,400 jobs or 0.5 percent, respectively) in the September 2009 quarter.

In the September 2009 year, actual filled jobs in the private sector declined 4.3 percent, while the number of public sector filled jobs increased 2.6 percent.

The LEED quarterly series is published with a lag of four quarters and uses information from existing taxation and Statistics NZ sources to provide a range of information on the dynamics of the New Zealand labour market. Further breakdowns by age, sex, industry, sector, firm size, region, and territorial authority are available on Infoshare and Table Builder on the Statistics NZ website. For more information on LEED, see the Guide to Interpreting the LEED Data

Highlights

This release focuses on labour market dynamics for New Zealand.

• In the year ended September 2009, filled jobs decreased 2.9 percent to 1,770,630.
• Compared with the September 2008 quarter, job creation decreased 6.8 percent down to 96,980 jobs in the September 2009 quarter.
• In the year ended September 2009, filled jobs in the private sector decreased 4.3 percent; in the public sector these increased 2.6 percent.
• In the September 2009 quarter, seasonally adjusted filled jobs decreased 0.7 percent.