New Zealand’s filled jobs fall affect young workers

WELLINGTON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) — New Zealand’s filled jobs dropped by 0.1 percent in July 2024 with decreases measured across all age groups, affecting young workers the most, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Wednesday.
“Business demand for labor has weakened over the past year and the younger age groups can be the most affected by supply and demand shifts in the labor market,” said Stats NZ business employment insights manager Sue Chapman.
The number of filled jobs for 15 to 24-year-olds was down 10,840 jobs, or 3.1 percent, over a three-month period to July 2024, and has been decreasing on an annual basis since August 2023, Stats NZ said, adding that filled jobs for 25 to 34-year-olds dropped by 1.8 percent and began showing annual decreases from May 2024.
Jobs in hospitality lead to declines for young workers, Chapman said, adding that one-third of all 15 to 34-year-olds in filled jobs were in retail trade, accommodation and food services, or construction industries in July 2023. However, these industries were down over 18,000 filled jobs annually.
The largest job decreases across the 15 to 34-year-olds in the year to July 2024 were accommodation and food services, which dropped 6.7 percent, construction, down 7.2 percent, and administrative and support services, down 12.7 percent, she said.
New Zealand’s unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in the June 2024 quarter, with the underutilization rate, a broad measure of untapped labor market capacity that includes unemployed and underemployed people, along with the potential labor force, being 11.8 percent, statistics show. ■