16,000 more jobs lost

Written By: - Date published: 12:40 pm, November 5th, 2009 - 14 comments
Categories: national/act government, unemployment - Tags:

The number of employed people fell from 2,170,000 to 2,154,000 in the three months to September*. There are 54,000 fewer people in jobs than December last year. 16,000 jobs were lost in three months – 240 per work day. Unemployment rose another 0.5% to 6.5%, the first time it has been that high since National was last in power.

summitfailThe number of officially unemployed people (those looking for work, able to work, but without a job) is at 150,000 for the first time since the dark days of the late-80s/early-90s recession brought on by the neoliberal revolution. That’s up from 80,000, the 20-year low point, at the end of 2007.

Add to that the 122,000 under-employed (part-timers who can’t get as much work as they want), up 8,000 in just three months. And the 37,000 more working age people who are not in the work-force since the recession began – up 19,000 to 1,083,000 in the last three months.

Total hours worked – the best measure of the state of the work-force, far better than the unemployment rate – fell 0.8% in the September quarter. We now collectively work 3.2 million fewer hours per week than at the peak in June last year.

Anyone who thinks this recession is over should ask the steadily growing army of the unemployed.

* these are the seasonally adjusted figures, without seasonal adjustment 23,000 jobs were lost.

14 comments on “16,000 more jobs lost ”

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  1. mickysavage 1
    5 November 2009 at 2:27 pm

    The sad thing is that, apart from the devastation that this will cause to tens of thousands of kiwis, the Herald will continue with its love in of John Key and spend most of the paper talking about what wonderful chaps he and his merry band of ministers are.

    And they are handling the depression so well.

    The fact that Helen and Michael paid off public debt and had the unemployment rate down to its lowest level in decades of course is totally irrelevant to this.

    Blinglish just has to say “ten years of economic mismanagement” 20 times and the Herald will believe it.

    Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

  2. vidiot 2
    5 November 2009 at 2:43 pm

    “Anyone who thinks this recession is over should ask the steadily growing army of the unemployed.”

    Perhaps we can kill 2 birds with one stone and send that Army to retake Fiji ?

  3. Name Withheld 3
    5 November 2009 at 3:06 pm

    It’s not easy being unemployed.

    Having been made redundant through shocking employer practices, which is heading into mediation, and steadily depleting the savings while applying for heading into 40 something positions in the last 3 months, the last resort was the benefit.

    As it stands, the benefit is barely 1/4 of what I was earning beforehand, the mortgage and the bills are just covered but every second Friday down to WINZ I go to seek yet another emergency food grant as the funds just don’t cut it.
    To make things cheaper, the mortgage was left on a floating (it’s cheaper than fixed right now), power bill payments were dropped, sky was cut, food budget rapidly revised, a $10 bike was purchased to avoid bus fares but still, the escalating debts keep piling up.

    The recession is definitely still here. Employers are not hiring no matter what the job advertisements say. WINZ is harassing me to accept any job, and if I haven’t found one before December, its off to McD’s I go. The reality is, I’m not going to throw away all the skills I’ve learnt in the last 10 years to go and serve fat people at McDonalds which they want me to do. Hell no motherfrakker.

    What they don’t understand either is that the first instance I get a job to which I’m eminently qualified for, McDs will receive an immediate resignation. This factor of course means they have wasted money on training someone who was never in it for the long term.

    WINZ is rotten under the guidance of Bennett. It stinks.

    Never mind the fact that while I’m looking for a job, I’m getting heavily involved with community groups in order to keep my brain active and utilising my skills, and providing certain groups with free advice when it comes to book keeping, web content management, fund raising activities. All valuable services that community groups can’t afford to pay for, yet WINZ doesn’t view it as ‘a real job’ and if I can do that for free, then I should get paid for it…but again, no ones hiring for my skill set.

    They’re mostly a bunch of morons and retards those “case managers” who’ve never worked in the corporate field.

    • Pat 3.1
      5 November 2009 at 4:28 pm

      Sell the house. That’s what I have just done. If you really feel that no reasonable employment is on the near horizon, the you are better to take action while you are still in control of the situation, rather than letting things drift to the point where the Bank assumes control.

  4. John Dalley 4
    5 November 2009 at 3:13 pm

    Name, Care to divulge your last voting practice?
    As we can’t ID you, i am curious.

  5. Name Withheld 5
    5 November 2009 at 3:31 pm

    What does my last voting practice have to do with anything?

  6. infused 6
    5 November 2009 at 3:38 pm

    I know the uptake in IT has been quite good lately… employement is the tail wind… going to take awhile. I’m about to employee someone within the next few weeks…

    I know many businesses are doing a lot better. I think they are all trying to pay off a bit of debt before hiring.

    That’s my gut feeling from dealing with about every industry under the sun.

    • Name Withheld 6.1
      5 November 2009 at 4:16 pm

      It’s a “lagging indicator” innit?

    • vidiot 6.2
      5 November 2009 at 4:16 pm

      Yes, have a good mate in a similar situation, looking to increase head count from 4 to 5 heads – there is work there to be done, you just need people with the right skill set to do the work.

  7. BLiP 7
    6 November 2009 at 2:25 am

    Just as well we’ve got that 3000k concrete cycle track running from one end of the country to the other to help out the 150,000 Kiwis.

    Thanks National Ltd® – I’m lovin’ it.

  8. tsmithfield 8
    6 November 2009 at 5:30 am

    The big problem is for exporters and the tourist trade from where our true wealth is derived.

    The US dollar continues to depreciate. There is a massive carry trade going on with the US dollar that does not seem likely to cease any time soon. This involves large US financial institutions getting money from the Fed basically for free. They then put the money into appreciating currencies such as the NZ or the AU. This forces those currencies higher. At the same time, the US continues to depreciate, reducing their liability to the Fed for the borrowed money. Thus, the banks get the money for virtually a negative interest. It is a game in which they control the market, and can’t lose.

    All the time, our exporters and tourist trade gets screwed. If you can come up with a way the government can solve this problem, then you will probably be knighted. Remember, our Reserve Bank tried selling off NZ dollars to drive the NZ down awhile ago. All that this did was create a good entry point for more speculation on the NZ.

    • Pascal's bookie 8.1
      6 November 2009 at 7:31 am

      You been readin’ Dr Doom too smithy?

      I don’t know what regulators or legislators can do about this sort of thing. And de-regulation doesn’t seem like a solution here either.

      Pitchforks and tumbrils may yet be required.

    • RedLogix 8.2
      6 November 2009 at 8:29 am

      If you can come up with a way the government can solve this problem, then you will probably be knighted.

      A single global trading currency?

      That’s Sir RedLogix to you.

  9. Shona 9
    6 November 2009 at 9:48 pm

    Repeal the Reserve Bank Act.Manage the exchange rate. Bring in an FTT. Financial Transaction tax (Tobin tax) and get rid of GST.

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