Southland's employment drop may be seasonal

Friday, 24 May 2019

Southland Regional Development Agency chairman Ian Collier.

The new Southland Regional Development Agency chairman says Southland's drop in employment from Statistic New Zealand's latest March report may be related to seasonal trends and an ageing workforce.

Statistics New Zealand's labour market report showed that Southland's employment rate dropped by 4.2 per cent from March 2018 to March this year.

The employment rate dropped nationally but Southland had the largest drop.

National statistics were seasonally adjusted while the regional statistics showing Southland's drop were not adjusted for season.

Agency chairman Ian Collier said the decrease in employment could be attributed to changes in seasonal employment, and the ageing baby boomer population.

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'Data for the December quarter was also high in comparison to the previous quarters, which could be attributed to seasonality, and increased employment over the Christmas and summer periods,' he said.

While the employment rate had dropped, Collier also pointed out that the unemployment figures also decreased with Southland's unemployment figure at 3.4 per cent, the third lowest across all regions.

To address the labour shortage in Southland, Collier said the agency would use the 2014 Southland Work Strategy as a guide.

Venture Southland's labour market team was also important to developing initiatives such as the Pop Up Job Shop to provide employment opportunities, he said.

Otago/Southland Employers Association chief executive Virginia Nicolls said seasonal work wouldn't have a large impact on Southland's employment rate.

The majority of people would still be in seasonal work for the March quarter but it would be interesting to see what the next quarter would bring.

A drop in employment, also came as a surprise for Nicolls.

'When I have spent time on the ground in Southland I see a lot of people reaching out for work.'

From what Nicolls could see from the ground was that employers were still looking for both skilled and unskilled labour.

The quarter to quarter statistics tended to move around a lot and it was better to focus on long term trends, she said.

'A worthwhile goal is to see our regional unemployment rate consistently at or below the national average, while at the same time seeing numbers employed steadily rise across those regions.'