8000 more on the Jobseeker benefit since lockdown began

Tuesday, 28 September 2021

The latest lockdown has prompted a jump in the number of people on Jobseeker support.

More than 8000 people have gone on to Jobseeker Support since the latest lockdown began, but those in work are being paid more, new jobs data shows.

August’s filled jobs figures from Stats NZ show still-rising levels of employment across the country in the past 12 months. The North Island had the strongest jobs growth, at 4.2 per cent a year, compared to 3.3 per cent in the South Island.

But an extra 8000 people had gone on to the benefit since the higher alert levels took effect in August, taking the total number of recipients to 194,900 on September 17.

Infometrics economist Brad Olsen said that effectively cancelled out the previous four months of declining Jobseeker numbers.

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An immediate jump in Jobseeker numbers in Lockdown 2.0.

“At the same time we’re moderating that with the sense that given how Jobseeker is set up – you still don’t have as much of a standdown period as you used to – you’re going to frontload that level of Jobseeker numbers.

“Are the numbers concerning to us? Yes. Are we thinking there’s a wider issue in the labour market? Probably not so far yet.”

There was only a nine-person increase in the week to September 17, he said, which indicated the rate of uptake had slowed significantly.

He said there were still signs of pressure in the market and people who lost their jobs should be expected to find other opportunities in the next few months.

“The increase does highlight that although on average there has been a strong economic profile through lockdown there are still some vulnerabilities there in the labour market and for some businesses which is where you’ve had these 8000-odd increase numbers coming from.”

He said the strong growth in earnings per job was more notable. There was a 6.2 per cent increase on average across the year, which translated to $320 per filled job per month, or about $2 an hour.

Olsen said that reflected the premium that some businesses were having to pay to hold on to their existing staff or attract new ones. There was significant demand for services, he said, and businesses that wanted to serve that growth were having to pay staff more to ensure they could deliver.