Unemployment numbers stable in Palmerston North

There’s been a rise in the number of people in Manawatū and Palmerston North receiving the unemployment benefit according to figures for the June quarter released by the Ministry of Social Development.

There was an increase of 121 people registering as unemployed in the Manawatū region, including 62 people in Palmerston North.

Economic policy advisor Peter Crawford says the increase is reflective of a seasonal increase in unemployment in the region.

Despite the rise, the 1,180 people registered for the unemployment benefit in September 2012 is significantly lower than in September 2011, declining by 241 people over the year, a decline of 17%.

Peter Crawford says Palmerston North has fared very well in terms of a reducing unemployed numbers compared to the rest of New Zealand.

Nationally, the number of people registered for the unemployment benefit declined by 5,271 people between September 2011 and September 2012, a decline of 10%.

Manawatū District experienced a decline of 8% over this period in the number of people registered for the unemployment benefit while Palmerston North declined by 19%.

The proportion of the working age population registered for the unemployment benefit was 1.3% in the Manawatū region (1.0% in Manawatū District and 1.4% in Palmerston North) compared with 1.4% for New Zealand.

Other figures released by the Ministry of Social Development show that during the June quarter the number of people on the domestic purposes benefit dropped by 20, while the number of people on the sickness benefit dropped by 11. However, there was a slight rise of 21, in the number of people registering for the invalids benefit.

There was also a decline between September 2011 and September 2012 in the number of people in the region receiving other Ministry of Social Development benefits.

The number of people in the region receiving the sickness, domestic purposes, invalids, emergency, youth and hardship  benefits declined by 124 people (2% decline) between September 2011 and September 2012. There was a 1% decline for New Zealand in the number of people registered for these benefits over this period.