Immigration to New Zealand is growing at record levels and it would seem that many of the newcomers are finding success in obtaining employment.
Figures released today by Statistics New Zealand show the number of filled jobs in the country has grown strongly in the past year. The latest New Zealand Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) shows that there has been an increase of 3.1 per cent in the year to June.
“It’s great to see more people moving to areas where skills are required,” said Steven Joyce, New Zealand’s Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment. “There were an additional 10,000 construction jobs which was up 6.8 per cent. Construction is now at an all-time high and that trend is set to continue.”
Other industries that experienced increases were accommodation and food services which had an additional 14,000 jobs (or 11 per cent), health care and social assistance workers which had 9,100 jobs added (or 4.1 per cent) and professional, scientific, technical, administrative and support services up 9,100 jobs (or 3.6 per cent).
Wage growth in New Zealand is also increasing at a healthy margin over inflation. Average weekly wage growth in the year to June was 2 per cent, against a Consumer Price Index for the year of 0.4 per cent. That makes for a real wage increase of 1.6 per cent for the year and continues a trend of moderate real wage growth.
“The growth in jobs underlines our commitment to creating an environment where businesses have the confidence to invest and where people are able to gain the skills to work in areas of growth,” added Joyce. “These are key priorities in the Government’s Business Growth Agenda.”
Article published 3rd August 2016