Job numbers fall in December quarter

Filled jobs in the December 2020 quarter fell by almost 1 percent or 19,000 jobs, compared with the December 2019 quarter, Stats NZ said today.

The national fall is the first year-on-year fall since the PAYE- tax-based series began in June 2011 and it follows slowing growth in filled jobs in the September and June 2020 quarters.

Several tourist areas of the South Island and Auckland had large falls, while the rest of the North Island fared better.

Filled jobs in the South Island were down 1.7 percent (8,659 jobs) in the December 2020 quarter when compared with December 2019.

The area with the largest percentage fall in filled jobs was the Queenstown-Lakes district: down 9.1 percent or approximately 2,000 jobs from December 2019.

"Employment in the Queenstown-Lakes district has been heavily affected by the drop of overseas visitors since COVID-19 border restrictions came into place," business insights manager Sue Chapman said.

Other tourist areas such as the Kaikōura district also fell by 5.5 percent (73 jobs) and the Mackenzie district experienced a 5.1 percent (115 jobs) drop.

The North Island fared a little better - filled jobs were down 0.6 percent (10,091 jobs) from the December 2019 quarter.

The main driver of this fall was Auckland which had close to 16,000 fewer jobs (2.1 percent).

The North Island excluding the Auckland region gained approximately 5,500 jobs, a 0.6 percent increase.

Hawke's Bay had a strong boost to filled jobs, with the region gaining about 1,800 jobs, an increase of 2.5 percent.

"This increase in job numbers occurred together with a 10 percent year-on-year spike in retail spending for the region," Ms. Chapman said.

See Retail trade survey: December 2020 quarter for information on retail sales.

This business employment data is based on Inland Revenue's PAYE (pay as you earn) tax data and so differs from the Labour market statistics: December 2020 quarter, which showed seasonally adjusted number of employed people rising by 17,000 over the December 2020 quarter, compared with the September 2020 quarter.

These two releases measure different concepts. For example, the household labour force survey (HLFS) does not include filled jobs held by people who don't live in New Zealand long-term, such as seasonal workers, or those on working holiday visas.

"Short-term visiting workers could include hotel, café, or retail jobs in tourist towns like Queenstown, which may help explain the drop in filled jobs in that area," Ms Chapman said.

On the other hand, the business employment data will exclude groups like employers, self-employed without employees, and unpaid family workers (who are all included in HLFS employed).

See Business employment data: December 2020 quarter to read more about the differences.

Annual earnings fall in parts of the South Island

For total gross earnings, comparisons are done on an annual basis to account for payroll timings.

From a gross earnings perspective, Queenstown-Lakes district residents together earned $39 million (3.4 percent) less in the 2020 calendar year when compared with 2019.

"This follows almost a decade of strong earnings growth in the popular tourism region," Ms Chapman said.

Annual earnings in Christchurch city and Invercargill city were relatively flat, after several years of growth.