Pacific Peoples' Labour Market Factsheet – September 2011
Published November 2011
This factsheet reports key labour market information for Pacific Peoples 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 Pacific refers to everyone who has selected that ethnic group, regardless of whether they have also selected another group.
In the year to September 2011, 200,400 Pacific Peoples were aged 15 years and over, of whom 61.6% were in the labour force while 38.4% 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 Pacific Labour Market for the year to September 2011
Description for Summary of Pacific Labour Market for the year to September 2011
Labour force participation
The labour force participation rate for Pacific Peoples stood at 61.6% for the year to September 2011, which represents a 0.4 percentage point increase over the past year and a 1.6 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 Pacific Peoples rate has increased more sharply over the past year.
Labour force participation rates, 2006-2011
Data table for Labour force participation rates, 2006-2011
Unemployment
The unemployment rate for Pacific Peoples was 13.8% in the year to September 2011, which was -0.4 percentage points below its level a year ago, and 7.5 percentage points higher than its level five years ago. Compared with the unemployment rate for all people, which was 6.6% in September 2011, the Pacific rate has decreased more sharply.
Unemployment rates, 2006-2011
Data table for 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, 15.0% of Pacific males and 12.1% of Pacific females were NEET, compared with 10.9% of all males and 8.5% of females in this age group. The NEET rate for Pacific females experienced the lowest rate of decline over the past year.
NEET rates, 2007-2011
Data table for NEET rates, 2007-2010
Employment
In the year to September 2011, 106,500 Pacific Peoples were in employment. Over the last five years, the employment rate of Pacific Peoples decreased 6.1 percentage points from 59.2% to 53.1%. The rate is below that for the total population, which stood at 63.8% in the year to September 2011.
Employment rates, 2006-2011
Data table for Employment rates, 2006-2011
In the year to September 2011, the leading industries in which Pacific Peoples worked were manufacturing (22,300 workers) and wholesale & retail (12,800 workers).
| Jun-11 | |
|---|---|
| Industry | (000) |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Mining | 2.9 |
| Manufacturing | 22.3 |
| Utilities and Construction | 7.8 |
| Wholesale & Retail | 12.8 |
| Accommodation & Food Services | 7.0 |
| Transport, Warehousing & Communications | 10.1 |
| Financial and Insurance | 3.9 |
| Other Business Services | 8.3 |
| Public Admin and Safety | 7.0 |
| Education & Training | 7.2 |
| Health Care & Social Assistance | 11.0 |
| Other Services | 5.7 |
| Total Employed (including Not Specified) | 106.5 |
In the year to September 2011, the most common occupational groups for Pacific Peoples were labourers (25,200 workers) and professionals (14,200 workers).
| Jun-11 | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | (000) |
| Managers | 8.9 |
| Professionals | 14.2 |
| Technicians & trades workers | 11.2 |
| Community & personal service workers | 13.4 |
| Clerical & administrative workers | 11.7 |
| Sales workers | 8.3 |
| Machinery operators & drivers | 12.8 |
| Labourers | 25.2 |
| Total Employed | 106.5 |
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.