Māori and rangatahi are among those hardest hit after New Zealand’s unemployment rate climbed to its highest level in more than a decade, with Northland recording the country’s highest regional jobless rate.
Statistics New Zealand’s latest Household Labour Force Survey shows national unemployment rose to 5.6 per cent in the June quarter, up from a revised 5.4 per cent in March.
Around 171,000 New Zealanders are now unemployed - about 8,000 more than the previous quarter and the highest unemployment rate since 2015.
For Māori, unemployment sits at 10.8 per cent, almost double the national rate, while Pacific unemployment stands at 11.6 per cent.
Regional crisis in Te Tai Tokerau
Te Tai Tokerau recorded the country’s highest regional unemployment rate at 8.8 per cent, jumping sharply from 5.1 per cent the previous quarter, adding to concerns about the impact on regional communities already dealing with major job losses.
The figures come after the recent closure of the JNL Kaitāia timber mill, with the loss of dozens of direct job losses and sparked wider economic concerns for forestry contractors, transport operators and local businesses across Te Hiku o Te Ika.
Labour Māori Development spokesperson, Willow-Jean Prime, said the figures were devastating for Māori communities and particularly for rangatahi.
“He tino pōuri te kite i ngā tatauranga kua puta mai i tēnei rā, nā te mea he tokomaha ngā Māori kāore kau he mahi,” Prime said, describing the situation in Northland as especially alarming. “Kua piki ake te nama mai i te 5.6 ki te neke atu i te waru paihēneti. He tokomaha ngā tāngata kāore kau he mahi.”
She pointed to Labour’s proposed Apprenticeship Boost policy and initiatives like Mana in Mahi and Poutama Rangatahi as examples of targeted programmes that successfully supported young Māori work.
Government points to long-term training solutions
Finance Minister Nicola Willis acknowledged Māori and Pacific people continue to be disproportionately represented in unemployment statistics but maintained the Government is focused on addressing root issues.
“There has been a long-term trend that those particular groups are overrepresented in unemployment statistics,” Willis said.
She highlighted the Government’s education reforms and regional training initiatives were designed to improve long-term employment prospects.
Asked what she would say to a 22-year-old tāne Māori in the north struggling to support his whānau after applying for dozens of jobs, Willis acknowledged the difficulty of the situation.
“Our government has worked so hard to ensure that we have better regional skills provision, so that even if he can’t find a job, he has the option of doing a training course at a local polytech, of taking an apprenticeship, of finding an opportunity to upskill himself for a job in the future,” she said.
Regional Development Minister and Te Tai Tokerau-based MP, Shane Jones, described the figures as worrying, particularly given ongoing pressures on manufacturing.
“It’s not a flash look, and we are very worried that we don’t see the erosion of any more manufacturing and industry, because that’s where a lot of jobs are,” Jones said.
While expressing empathy for whānau whose rangatahi are out of work, Jones noted the Government would continue investing in regional projects through the Regional Infrastructure Fund, though he acknowledged infrastructure projects were unlikely to solve the problem on a large-scale.
Opposition calls for targeted regional support
Te Pāti Māori co-leader, Rawiri Waititi, argued the figures showed the Government was failing Māori communities.
“Unemployment rates are at an unacceptable high. If the current unemployment rates are at 5.6%, Māori are at around 11%, and then we’ve got rangatahi unemployment at 25%,” Waititi said.
“No wonder our children are leaving for Melbourne, Paris, London, Washington, because obviously this government is doing a really, really bad job at moving the economy and ensuring that there are jobs here for our people.”
Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer stressed that a one-size-fits-all approach would fail regional Māori communities.
“We’re really seeing an impact in the regions. We should be focusing on businesses... we should be focusing on how we get work into our communities,” she said.
“There should be targeted everything, and in a regional approach, because no one region is the same.”
Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick both blamed the coalition’s fiscal policies for the downturn. Swarbrick notes that 49,000 more people are out of work since the Government took office, asserting that public spending cuts are actively harming the economy.
“Political tit for tat aside, it’s time for the Prime Minister to put his hands back on the wheel of this economy and invest in our country. Clearly, cut after cut doesn’t grow an economy. It breaks one,” Swarbrick said.
Willis countered that the April-to-June quarter had been challenging for employers across all sectors, reassuring businesses that the Government’s priority remains rebuilding commercial confidence so employers can begin hiring again as economic conditions improve.
