Labour market statistics: June 2024 quarter

Labour market statistics provide a picture of the New Zealand labour market, including unemployment and employment rates, demand for labour, and changes in wages and salaries.

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Key facts

In the June 2024 quarter, compared with the March 2024 quarter, the:

• unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, compared with 4.4 percent
• underutilisation rate was 11.8 percent, up from 11.2 percent
• employment rate remained at 68.4 percent.

In the year to the June 2024 quarter:

• all salary and wage rates (including overtime) increased 4.3 percent
• average weekly earnings (including overtime) for full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) increased to $1,612
• average ordinary time hourly earnings increased to $41.52.

Unemployment

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in the June 2024 quarter, compared with 4.4 percent last quarter.

• For men, the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, compared with 4.0 percent last quarter.
• For women, the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, compared with 4.8 percent last quarter.

The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed people rose to 143,000 (up 8,000).

Underutilisation

The seasonally adjusted underutilisation rate rose to 11.8 percent this quarter, up from 11.2 percent last quarter.

• For men, the underutilisation rate was 10.0 percent, compared with 9.3 percent last quarter.
• For women, the underutilisation rate was 13.8 percent, compared with 13.3 percent last quarter.

Underutilisation is a broad measure of spare capacity in New Zealand’s labour market and is as important as the unemployment rate, as it gives us a more detailed picture of the workforce.

In the June 2024 quarter, the number of people who were underutilised rose to 377,000 (up 21,000).

Text alternative for diagram of Total underutilisation, June 2024 quarter, seasonally adjusted. 

Employment and labour force participation

The seasonally adjusted employment rate in the June 2024 quarter was 68.4 percent, unchanged from last quarter.

• For men, the employment rate was 72.7 percent, compared with 72.9 percent last quarter.
• For women, the employment rate was 64.3 percent, compared with 64.1 percent last quarter.

The number of employed people in the June 2024 quarter increased by 12,000 to 2,954,000. The increase came primarily from 10,000 more employed women.

Despite growing employment over the quarter, the employment rate remained flat. This was because the working-age population grew at the same pace as employment, meaning the proportion of people who were employed was the same.

The seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate – which includes both employed and unemployed members of the working-age population – was 71.7 percent, compared with 71.6 percent last quarter.

Hours

Seasonally adjusted actual hours decreased 1.2 percent over the quarter and 0.3 percent over the year to reach 98.2 million.

The quarterly decrease in seasonally adjusted actual hours reflected a smaller than usual increase in non-seasonally adjusted actual hours between the March and June 2024 quarters. 

As surveyed, actual hours often fall in March quarters, as people take annual leave, and then actual hours rise again in June quarters, as people return from holidays. However, in the June 2024 quarter, this increase was not as strong as usual, as some of the March 2024 quarter’s decline came from employment decreases and people working fewer hours each week rather than taking holidays.

Annually, the number of employed people who were working fewer hours than they would have wanted increased 18.5 percent, up to 326,600.

Disability

In the June 2024 quarter, for people aged 15 to 64 years, the:

• labour force participation rate for disabled people was 44.7 percent, compared with 84.1 percent for non-disabled people
• employment rate for disabled people was 39.8 percent, compared with 80.3 percent for non-disabled people
• unemployment rate for disabled people was 11.0 percent, compared with 4.5 percent for non-disabled people
• underutilisation rate for disabled people was 26.3 percent, compared with 11.3 percent for non-disabled people.

Between the June 2023 and 2024 quarters, none of the headline rates for disabled people aged 15 to 64 years changed significantly.

Labour market statistics: June 2024 quarter – summary diagrams, available under the Download data heading,  show labour force breakdowns for disabled people in more detail.

Labour market data for disabled people by sex and age is now included in the file Labour market statistics: June 2024 quarter – CSV, available under the Download data heading, and will continue to be included in future June quarter labour market and income releases.

Wages

The labour cost index (LCI) all salary and wage rates (including overtime) increased 4.3 percent in the year to the June 2024 quarter, while the unadjusted LCI increased 5.4 percent.

In the year to the June 2024 quarter, average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased to $41.52 (up 5.0 percent).

Both the LCI and QES showed large annual increases in public sector wages following the settlement of collective agreements in healthcare and education industries.

Unemployment rate at 4.6 percent has more information on wage growth by sector.

Average weekly earnings (including overtime) for full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) in the QES also increased on an annual basis – up 5.3 percent to $1,612.

• Private sector average weekly earnings increased 4.4 percent, to $1,528.
• Public sector average weekly earnings increased 7.5 percent, to $1,934.

Text alternative for diagram of Total underutilisation, June 2024 quarter, seasonally adjusted

Diagram shows data from June 2024 quarter’s Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS).

The underutilisation rate rose 0.6pp (percentage points) to 11.8%. This rate is derived from total underutilised divided by the extended labour force. The unemployment rate rose 0.2pp, to 4.6%. This is derived from unemployed divided by labour force.

Total underutilised rose 21,000 to 377,000. Underemployed rose 9,000 to 128,000. Unemployed rose 8,000 to 143,000. The potential labour force rose 4,000 to 106,000.

Within the potential labour force, available potential jobseekers were up 5,100 to 83,200 and unavailable jobseekers were down 2,000 to 23,000.

Notes:

1. No seasonal pattern is evident for available potential jobseekers. Therefore, this series is not seasonally adjusted.
2. Due to rounding, changes do not always sum to the published totals.
3. All changes are quarterly.

Source: Stats NZ, Household Labour Force Survey

More data

Use Infoshare to access the labour market time series.

Subject category: Work income and spending 
Group: Household labour force survey – HLF
Group: Quarterly employment survey – QEM
Group: Labour cost index – LCI

Definitions and metadata

Labour market statistics: June 2024 quarter – Period specific information – DataInfo+ includes data quality notes for the June 2024 quarter, including response and achieved sample rates.

Labour market statistics – DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce this release, and related metadata.

Household Labour Force Survey – DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce Household Labour Force Survey statistics, and related metadata.

Labour cost index – DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce labour cost index statistics, and related metadata.

Quarterly Employment Survey – DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce Quarterly Employment Survey statistics, and related metadata.

Media enquiries

Media team
media@stats.govt.nz
021 285 9191

Technical enquiries

Labour Market Statistics unit
info@stats.govt.nz

ISSN 2422-8699

Next release

Labour market statistics: September 2024 quarter will be released on 6 November 2024.