Seasonally adjusted job numbers reached a new high in April 2021, up 0.3 percent on the previous March 2021 high, Stats NZ said today.
Filled job numbers had peaked in February 2020 before falling 2.1 percent (47,331 jobs) over the March and April 2020 months after accounting for seasonal effects.
This drop coincided with the COVID-19 alert level 4 restrictions, which began in the last week of March and continued through most of April.
"It wasn't until March 2021 that job numbers returned to the February 2020 high," said business insights manager Sue Chapman.
"It appears that filled jobs have returned to a more regular and upward trend in the last few months, following an eventful 2020 year."
| Month | Seasonally adjusted total filled jobs |
| Mar-19 | 2145097 |
| Apr-19 | 2152301 |
| May-19 | 2159547 |
| Jun-19 | 2163839 |
| Jul-19 | 2171709 |
| Aug-19 | 2172807 |
| Sep-19 | 2182663 |
| Oct-19 | 2180082 |
| Nov-19 | 2197712 |
| Dec-19 | 2205189 |
| Jan-20 | 2206997 |
| Feb-20 | 2214128 |
| Mar-20 | 2203512 |
| Apr-20 | 2166797 |
| May-20 | 2183197 |
| Jun-20 | 2199852 |
| Jul-20 | 2197640 |
| Aug-20 | 2198382 |
| Sep-20 | 2194911 |
| Oct-20 | 2202767 |
| Nov-20 | 2196464 |
| Dec-20 | 2210747 |
| Jan-21 | 2208069 |
| Feb-21 | 2210123 |
| Mar-21 | 2214601 |
| Apr-21 | 2221008 |
April year summary
In actual terms, there were approximately 2,236,000 jobs in April 2021. This is an increase of over 2.5 percent (over 54,000 jobs) from April last year, when job numbers fell to 2,181,000 over the COVID-19 alert level 4 lockdown.
The industries that were the biggest drivers of this increase were:
- health care and social assistance, up 6.5 percent (15,474 jobs)
- construction, up 7.1 percent (12,568 jobs)
- public administration and safety, up 5.8 percent (8,058 jobs)
- professional, scientific, and technical services, up 4.4 percent (7,370 jobs).
Industries that had fewer filled jobs compared with April 2020 included transport, postal, and warehousing, down 4.9 percent (4,464 jobs).
Transport, postal, and warehousing jobs are down as airline staff numbers have declined since COVID-19 limited international travel.
Administrative and support services were also down 2.3 percent (2,451 jobs).
"This industry includes recruitment firms that may have been affected by fewer migrant workers, and travel agencies that have been hampered by a reduction in overseas travel," Ms Chapman said.
| Industry | Movement |
| Health care and social assistance | 15474 |
| Construction | 12568 |
| Public administration and safety | 8058 |
| "Professional | 7370 |
| scientific | 4729 |
| and technical services" | 4035 |
| Education and training | 2745 |
| Other services | 2192 |
| Manufacturing | 1278 |
| Financial and insurance services | 1133 |
| "Agriculture | 1013 |
| forestry | 675 |
| and fishing" | 441 |
| "Rental | 320 |
| hiring | 142 |
| and real estate services" | 114 |
| "Electricity | -513 |
| gas | -2451 |
| water | -4464 |
| and waste services" | |
| Wholesale trade | |
| Retail trade | |
| Information media and telecommunications | |
| Mining | |
| Arts and recreation services | |
| Accommodation and food services | |
| Administrative and support services | |
| "Transport | |
| postal | |
| and warehousing" |
Gross earnings
The amount of gross earnings paid to employees in April 2021 was $11.9 billion. This compares with $11.1 billion paid in April 2020. Gross earnings often move up and down every month due to payday timings.
"April 2020 gross earnings include earnings paid by employers subsidised by the COVID-19 wage subsidy scheme" Ms Chapman said.
