Employment Indicators 28 May

Employment indicators provide an early indication of changes in the labour market.

Key facts

Changes in the seasonally adjusted filled jobs for the April 2025 month (compared with the March 2025 month) were:

  • all industries - down 0.1 percent (2,246 jobs) to 2.35 million filled jobs
  • primary industries - up 0.1 percent (108 jobs)
  • goods-producing industries - down 0.3 percent (1,393 jobs)
  • service industries - down 0.1 percent (1,081 jobs).
"Month""Percentage change"
"Apr-22""0.4"
"May-22""0.1"
"Jun-22""0.3"
"Jul-22""0.4"
"Aug-22""0.4"
"Sep-22""0.3"
"Oct-22""0.1"
"Nov-22""0.2"
"Dec-22""-0.3"
"Jan-23""0.6"
"Feb-23""0.5"
"Mar-23""0.2"
"Apr-23""0.5"
"May-23""0.1"
"Jun-23""0.3"
"Jul-23""0.2"
"Aug-23""0"
"Sep-23""0.1"
"Oct-23""0.4"
"Nov-23""-0.2"
"Dec-23""0"
"Jan-24""0.2"
"Feb-24""0"
"Mar-24""0.1"
"Apr-24""-0.2"
"May-24""-0.4"
"Jun-24""-0.4"
"Jul-24""-0.3"
"Aug-24""-0.1"
"Sep-24""-0.1"
"Oct-24""-0.2"
"Nov-24""0.1"
"Dec-24""-0.2"
"Jan-25""0.1"
"Feb-25""-0.1"
"Mar-25""0.1"
"Apr-25""-0.1"

The following figures compare April 2025 actual values with April 2024:

  • Filled jobs were 2.36 million, down 38,463 (1.6 percent).

Filled jobs changes by industry

By industry, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with April 2024 were in:

  • construction - down 6.5 percent (13,522 jobs)
  • administrative and support services - down 6.7 percent (7,547 jobs)
  • professional, scientific, and technical services - down 3.3 percent (6,257 jobs)
  • manufacturing - down 2.3 percent (5,475 jobs)
  • retail trade - down 1.5 percent (3,184 jobs).

Filled jobs changes by region

By region, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with April 2024 were in:

  • Auckland - down 2.1 percent (16,826 jobs)
  • Wellington - down 2.4 percent (6,343 jobs)
  • Waikato - down 1.0 percent (2,403 jobs)
  • Bay of Plenty - down 1.5 percent (2,268 jobs)
  • Manawatū-Whanganui - down 1.7 percent (1,903 jobs).

Filled jobs changes for men and women

In April 2025 compared with April 2024, the number of filled jobs fell by 2.2 percent (26,624 jobs) for men and fell by 1.3 percent (15,502 jobs) for women.

Filled jobs by age group

By age group, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with April 2024 were in:

  • 15-19 years - down 10 percent (13,732 jobs)
  • 25-29 years - down 4.8 percent (12,800 jobs)
  • 30-34 years - down 3.3 percent (9,816 jobs)
  • 20-24 years - down 3.9 percent (8,974 jobs)
  • 35-39 years - up 1.9 percent (5,347 jobs).

Gross earnings

On an accrual basis, the total gross earnings rose $102 million (0.7 percent) compared with April 2024. The total gross earnings for the April 2025 month were $15.6 billion.

About the data

The actual gross earnings in this release were calculated on an accrual basis, where earnings are allocated proportionally to the period in which they are earned.

The accrual method removes the volatility of monthly data. For example, a fortnightly pay period might occur twice in some months and three times in other months.

Due to the shorter time series and minor revisions to data in the actual gross earnings series, the data is not directly comparable to calculations for monthly earnings on a cash basis (which covers the amount paid in the reference month).

Gross earnings on a cash basis can still be accessed on Infoshare.

Actual data published for employment indicators is provisional for three months to account for additional payday filing data being received.

More data

Use Infoshare to view and download time-series data for:

Employment indicators

Subject category: Work, income, and spending
Group: Employment indicators - MEI

Note that due to a small portion of uncoded data, there will be small differences in the sum for filled jobs by region, age, sex, and the value for total New Zealand.

Definitions and metadata

Employment indicators - DataInfo+ provides general methodology and definitions relevant for employment statistics.

Technical enquiries

Declan Tobin
04 931 4600
[email protected]

Next release

Employment indicators: May 2025 will be released on 30 June 2025.

/Stats NZ Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.