Job numbers rose in May 2020 after a substantial fall in April, Stats NZ said today.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the total number of filled jobs rose 0.8 percent in May 2020, compared with April 2020. This contrasts with the fall of 1.6 percent in April 2020 compared with March 2020.
"May saw a turnaround in monthly total filled jobs. The full lockdown throughout April brought reports of businesses hibernating to try to weather the storm with assistance from the wage subsidy," economic statistics manager Sue Chapman said.
| Month | Percent |
| May-17 | 0.46 |
| Jun-17 | 0.30 |
| Jul-17 | 0.03 |
| Aug-17 | 0.52 |
| Sep-17 | 0.24 |
| Oct-17 | 0.06 |
| Nov-17 | 0.33 |
| Dec-17 | 0.00 |
| Jan-18 | 0.79 |
| Feb-18 | -0.17 |
| Mar-18 | -0.06 |
| Apr-18 | 0.09 |
| May-18 | 0.37 |
| Jun-18 | 0.07 |
| Jul-18 | 0.21 |
| Aug-18 | 0.22 |
| Sep-18 | -0.03 |
| Oct-18 | 0.79 |
| Nov-18 | -0.35 |
| Dec-18 | 0.15 |
| Jan-19 | 1.08 |
| Feb-19 | -0.27 |
| Mar-19 | -0.33 |
| Apr-19 | 0.47 |
| May-19 | 0.22 |
| Jun-19 | 0.13 |
| Jul-19 | 0.36 |
| Aug-19 | -0.03 |
| Sep-19 | 0.40 |
| Oct-19 | 0.23 |
| Nov-19 | 0.56 |
| Dec-19 | 0.71 |
| Jan-20 | -0.15 |
| Feb-20 | 0.04 |
| Mar-20 | -0.25 |
| Apr-20 | -1.60 |
| May-20 | 0.79 |
"Businesses re-opened as New Zealand moved to alert level 3 near the end of April and then to level 2 on 13 May, bringing some people back to the workplace," Ms Chapman said.
Stats NZ calculates filled jobs by averaging weekly jobs paid during the month, based on tax data. Filled jobs include jobs paid by employers who are being subsidised by the COVID-19 wage subsidy scheme.
Age and sex data
This month we have released filled jobs data for age and sex, to further assist in understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on the economy.
"The age group of 15- to 24-year-olds were more significantly hit by the job losses seen in April and seem to have had harder time recovering in May than the other age brackets. People in these age groups tend to be doing more part-time and casual work as well as studying," Ms Chapman said.
| Age group (years) | Change in number of actual filled jobs |
| Under 15 | -836 |
| 15-19 | -7957 |
| 20-24 | -7554 |
| 25-29 | -3244 |
| 30-34 | 813 |
| 35-39 | 846 |
| 40-44 | 836 |
| 45-49 | 144 |
| 50-54 | 668 |
| 55-59 | -277 |
| 60-64 | 687 |
| 65+ | -2250 |
The number of filled jobs held by women fell more significantly in April and recovered to lesser degree in May than for men over the same period.
| Sex | Change in actual filled jobs |
| Female | -13352 |
| Male | -4875 |
For additional breakdowns of number of jobs by age and region, and number by sex by region, see:
- COVID-19 portal for data visualisations.
- Employment-indicators: May 2020 to download data in CSV format.
COVID-19 alert system timeline:
25 March 2020: New Zealand enters COVID-19 alert level 4
27 April 2020: New Zealand enters COVID-19 alert level 3
13 May 2020: New Zealand enters COVID-19 alert level 2
