Confidence was down across all regions
Employment confidence in New Zealand dropped by 13 points to 91.4 in June, according to a new survey, marking the lowest reading since late 2020.
“New Zealand households have taken a much dimmer view of the jobs market over the last three months,” senior economist Michael Gordon (pictured above) said in the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index.
New Zealanders believe that jobs are increasingly hard to come by, according to Gordon, signalling a “further rise in the unemployment rate” in the coming months.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in March 2024, up from 3.4% recorded in the same month last year.
Gordon said the rise in the unemployment rate was expected due to the Reserve Bank’s efforts to fight inflation.
People’s perceptions of current job opportunities fell to a net -36.1%, a 23.8-point decline from the -12.3% in March 2024. This category saw the largest decline in all of Westpac’s employment confidence indices.
Meanwhile, the survey results did not show a significant increase in layoffs but this may change as the economic slowdown progresses.
Below are the other key insights from the report:
- Expected job opportunities in a year’s time dropped below pandemic-period readings
- Perception on pay growth declined from 7.3 in March to -7.4 in June
- Perception on personal job security dropped from 7.3 to -7.4 in June
- Confidence fell across all age groups, with younger respondents (under 30 years old) being the most positive
- Confidence weakened across all regions, with Southland seeing the biggest shift as it went from the most confident to the least confident region in the June quarter
According to McDermott Miller market research director Imogen Rendall, confidence fell among those who work in the public and private sectors.
Employees from both sectors have taken a “particularly pessimistic view” on job availability and future job opportunities in a year’s time, Rendall said.
Westpac conducted the interview from June 1-12.
