MAori Labour Market Factsheet – September 2011
Published November 2011
This factsheet reports key labour market information for Maori for the year to September 2011. All data is sourced from the Household Labour Force Survey released quarterly by Statistics New Zealand. Data is annualised to address sampling error and seasonal variation concerns.[1] For the purposes of this factsheet “total response” data is used. This means that Maori refers to everyone who has selected that ethnic group, regardless of whether they have also selected another group.
In September 2011, 436,800 Maori were aged 15 years and over, of whom 66.0% were in the labour force while 34.0% were not in the labour force[2], due to such reasons as child rearing, retirement or studying. Those employed and unemployed are discussed in further detail below.
Summary of the Maori labour market for the year to September 2011
Labour force participation
The labour force participation rate for Maori stood at 66.0% for the year to September 2011, which represents a 0.6 percentage point decrease over the past year and a 1.1 percentage point decrease over the past five years. Compared with the participation rate for all people, which was 68.3% in the year to September 2011, the Maori rate has decreased more sharply over the past year.
Labour force participation rates, 2006-2011
Unemployment
The unemployment rate for Maori was 13.4% in the year to September 2011, which was -0.6 percentage points below its level a year ago, and 5.3 percentage points higher than its level five years ago. Compared with the unemployment rate for all people, which was 6.6% in the year to September 2011, the Maori rate has decreased more sharply.
Unemployment rates, 2006-2011
Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)
The NEET rate is a key measure of youth disengagement. Among 15-24 year olds, in the year to September 2011, 18.6% of Maori males and 14.1% of Maori females were NEET, compared with 10.9% of all males and 8.5% of females in this age group. The NEET rate for total males experienced the lowest rate of decline over the past year.
NEET rates, 2007-2011
Employment
In the year to September 2011, 249,600 Maori were in employment. Over the last five years, the employment rate of Maori decreased 4.5 percentage points from 61.6% to 57.1%. The rate is below that for the total population, which stood at 63.8% in September 2011.
Employment rates, 2006-2011
In the year to September 2011, the leading industries in which Maori worked were manufacturing (38,300 workers) and wholesale & retail (29,100 workers).
| Sep-11 | |
|---|---|
| Industry | (000) |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Mining | 22.0 |
| Manufacturing | 38.3 |
| Utilities and Construction | 23.0 |
| Wholesale & Retail | 29.1 |
| Accommodation & Food Services | 14.7 |
| Transport, Warehousing & Communications | 17.3 |
| Financial and Insurance | 3.5 |
| Other Business Services | 20.3 |
| Public Admin and Safety | 17.8 |
| Education & Training | 23.0 |
| Health Care & Social Assistance | 27.0 |
| Other Services | 12.6 |
| Total Employed (including Not Specified) | 249.6 |
In the year to September 2011, the most common occupational groups for Maori were labourers (51,400 workers) and professionals (41,100 workers).
| Sep-11 | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | (000) |
| Managers | 27.9 |
| Professionals | 41.1 |
| Technicians & trades workers | 27.1 |
| Community & personal service workers | 30.6 |
| Clerical & administrative workers | 25.7 |
| Sales workers | 18.6 |
| Machinery operators & drivers | 25.9 |
| Labourers | 51.4 |
| Total Employed | 249.6 |
Labour market terms explained
Employment: The number of people in work for one hour or more per week.
Employment rate: The proportion of the working–age population that is employed.
Labour force: The labour force consists of members of the working–age population who are classified as employed or unemployed (people in the labour force).
Labour force participation rate: The proportion of the working–age population who are either employed or unemployed.
Not in the labour force: Any person in the working–age population who is neither employed nor unemployed. This includes, for example, retired people, students and people at home with children.
NEET: This measure refers to youth not engaged in education, employment and training. Youth who are not engaged in these activities are at risk of poor labour market outcomes. In this report, caregiving is deemed to be engagement and so is excluded from the way NEET is measured.
Unemployment: The number of people in the working–age population who are without a paid job, are available for work and have actively sought work in the past four weeks or have a new job to start within the next four weeks.
Unemployment rate: The proportion of the labour force that is unemployed.
Working–age population: Usually resident population aged 15 years and over.
For more information contact labourmarketanalysis@dol.govt.nz
Next release: 9 February 2012
1 Data from the Household Labour Force Survey has been annualised by averaging the results from the past four quarters. This may occasionally result in a small rounding error compared to annual results produced directly by Statistics New Zealand.
2 See end of report for definitions of concepts and rates used in this report.