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Auckland city business and economy report 2007

Executive summary | Relative economic performance | Economic structure | Affordable housing | Population | Labour market | Retail trade and tourism | Building and property | Inflation, interest rates and the exchange rate | Potential economic impacts of climate change | Economic outlook

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Labour market

The labour market in Auckland city remained tight in the year to March 2007. The city's annual unemployment rate was still very low at 3.8 per cent, although slightly higher than the record low of 3.1 per cent in the previous year.

Auckland city's unemployment rate was similar to the regional figure of 3.9 per cent and the same as the national unemployment rate.

Unemployment rate Annual average

Source: Statistics New Zealand

The tightness of the labour market has resulted in labour hoarding, as firms continue to have difficulty finding both skilled and unskilled labour.

The following graph shows survey results to the question:

• "Is finding the staff you want today compared with three months ago, easier, the same, or harder?", and the graph shows that more firms have been finding it difficult to find both skilled and unskilled labour since 2002.

Skill shortages Net percentage of firms reporting difficulties: Auckland city

Source New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion) - net percentage of of respondents is calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents saying harder from the percentage that say easier and dividing by (100 per cent - Not applicable respondents).

Auckland city wages are higher than the rest of the country. Average total weekly wages (in the March 2007 quarter) were $963 for the city, compared to $868 for the country.

Auckland city experienced strong wage growth in 2006 due to the tight labour market. The latest figures show wage growth was 5 per cent in the year to March 2007. This was a marked reduction from the 8.7 per cent peak in the year to September 2006.

Wage growth will continue to decline as the economy slows further, and the labour market eases over the coming year.

Auckland city wages
as at March 2007¹

Region	Auckland city		New Zealand
Total average weekly earnings	$963		$868
Annual growth	5.0%		5.1%
1 Auckland region wage data for March 2007 quarter was not available at time of print.  Source: Statistics New Zealand

Published June 2007