Mâori Employment hits record high

The unemployment rate for Mâori fell to 7.6 per cent in the year to June 2007, the lowest since records began in 1986. The Mâori labour force participation rate reached nearly 68 per cent, the highest ever recorded in the Household Labour Force Survey.


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Labour market outcomes for Mâori have been positive over the past year with the number of Mâori in the workforce hitting an all-time high, while the rate of unemployed Mâori is at a record low, says Mâori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia.
The unemployment rate for Mâori fell to 7.6 per cent in the year to June 2007, the lowest since records began in 1986. The Mâori labour force participation rate reached nearly 68 per cent, the highest ever recorded in the Household Labour Force Survey.
"This means the gap between Mâori and non-Mâori unemployment and participation rates has continued to narrow over the past year, which is great news. Improved employment outcomes for Mâori are crucial to ensuring increased opportunities and choices for our whânau and have been a key driver of the Labour-led government."
A Labour Department report released today shows growth in Mâori employment accounted for half the total growth in employment in the past year - of the 32,500 extra people employed than at the same time last year, 16,400 were Mâori. This is despite the fact Mâori make up only around 10 per cent of the total working age population.
"Mâori employment growth has been spread across most occupation groups. However, relative to overall employment growth it has been strongest in the two middle-skilled occupation groups, skilled occupations and semi-skilled occupations," Mr Horomia said.
These include trades, service workers and machinery operators. Mâori employment growth has also been strong in the highly skilled occupation category, such as managers and professionals, though not quite as much as overall employment growth in that category.

"Mâori employment growth since 2002 has been helped by strong economic growth while Mâori have also benefited from growth in their working age population as well as having a relatively young age profile."
The Mâori wage growth of 4.2 percent over the past five years has not kept up with the 5.1 per cent overall average growth. This is partly attributed to Mâori having a relatively high number of new entrants in the workforce compared with non-Mâori, which means Mâori workers will be less experienced and so often lower paid.
"The construction industry and skilled trades such as plumbing, building and bricklaying featured the strongest percentage employment growth over the past five years for Mâori (84.4 percent). This growth is also mirrored in industry training with 18 per cent of all industry trainees being Mâori.
"While outcomes have in general been positive, challenges remain with unemployment rates and participation rates being less favourable than for non-Mâori."
A range of initiatives targeted at improving Mâori labour market outcomes aim to see such disparities reduced further in the future. These include engaging with Iwi to develop capability, better tailoring qualifications and training arrangements to meet Mâori needs, and focusing on skill levels and education more generally, Mr Horomia said.