Pacific Peoples in the Labour Market - September 2016 Year
Pacific Peoples active in the labour market
Employment to working age population ratio
Labour force participation rate
Labour market outcomes for Pacific peoples improved over the year to September 2016.
Employment rate
for the year to Sep - 2016
in the year to Sep - 2016
North Island
(excl. Auckland
and Wellington)
60.8%
North Island
(excl. Auckland
and
Wellington)
68.1%
Employment was up 13,900 to 133,700 workers over the year.
Auckland
63.7%
Auckland
57.6%
Participation rate increased to 65.1 per cent, up 2.3 percentage points from a year ago.
Wellington
66.1%
South Island
70.9%
Unemployment rate fell by 1.9 percentage points from a year ago to 9.6 per cent.
Wellington
59.4%
South Island
66.1%
The annual average NEET rate rose from 16.5 per cent to 16.8 per cent in September 2016.
About 11,200 Pacific Peoples youth were not in education, employment and training.
National and regional employment
Labour Demand
Unemployment rate
People unemployed ('000)
Employment outcomes improved for Pacific peoples in September 2016. Compared with a year ago, 13,900 (or 11.6 per cent) more Pacific peoples were
employed. The rise in employment was driven by higher employment in the accomodation & food services, utilities and construction, and education and
training industries over the year. The employment rates were also up in two out of six age groups in September 2016.
▼ 14.1
▼ 9.6%
down 8.5% from a year
10.9% of total unemployed in NZ (128.9)
The unemployment rate for Pacific women fell by 2.8 percentage points (pp) over the past year, with fewer Pacific women unemployed, down to 7,400 from
8,500 in September 2015. The unemployment rate fell 0.9 percentage points for Pacific men.
Total labour force ('000)
More Pacific peoples are active in the labour market. The participation rate for Pacific Peoples increased 2.3 percentage points (pp) over the year to 65.1 per
cent. This improved participation rate was in part due to increased participation rates among Pacific Peoples in most age groups, and in Pacific people males
(up 2.2 pp to 71.8 per cent) and females (up 2.5 pp to 59.1 per cent).
up 9.3% from a year ago
5.8% of the total labour force in NZ
Differences in Pacific peoples employment across the regions continue. Pacific peoples in the South Island had the highest employment rate (66.1 per cent),
followed by North Island (excl. Auckland and Wellington) (60.8 per cent) in September 2016. This compares with 57.6 per cent in Auckland, where the Pacific
peoples population is most concentrated. About 66.4 per cent (98,100) of the total Pacific peoples labour force is in Auckland, and 11.4 per cent (16,900) in
Wellington.
up 5.3% from a year ago
6.1% of total WAP in NZ (3,698.0)
Region
Sep-2016
Auckland
Wellington
North Island (excl. Auckland and Wellington)
South Island
Total Pacific Peoples employment
Total New Zealand employment
Industry employment
up 3.3pp from a year ago
6.9pp below NZ average (65.8%)
Labour force participation rate
up 2.3pp from a year ago
4.1pp below NZ average
88,700
15,200
19,300
10,500
133,700
2,430,900
Change
Annual
Three-year
13.2%
43.2%
18.6%
13.5%
8.7%
30.6%
3.9%
50.7%
11.6%
37.7%
3.5%
10.4%
Employment by industry
The industries employing the most Pacific peoples workers in September 2016
were manufacturing, wholesale &retail, and health care and social assistance.
Over the year, employment grew in most industries. The strongest annual growth
was in accommodation & food services (69.2 per cent or 3,200 workers), followed by
utilities and construction (31.6 per cent or 3,600 workers).
Pacific peoples employment share by industry, Sep 2016
Annual change
Wholesale & Retail
Health Care and Social Assistance
Utilities and Construction
Other Business Services*
Sep-2015
4,600
11,400
6,900
Sep-2016
7,700
15,000
8,400
Change
69.2%
31.6%
22.5%
Other Business Services*
Public Admin and Safety
Education and Training
Health Care and Social Assistance
Other Services
Total Employed (including Not Specified)
Public Admin and Safety
Education and Training
Accommodation & Food Services
Other Services
Financial and Insurance
11,100
23,400
11,000
23,200
0.9%
0.9%
Agriculture Forestry Fishing and Mining
0%
Pacific peoples
Industry
Agriculture Forestry Fishing and Mining
Manufacturing
Utilities and Construction
Wholesale & Retail
Accommodation & Food Services
Transport Warehousing IM & Communications
Financial and Insurance
Manufacturing
Transport Warehousing IM &…
Biggest falls
Other Business Services*
Manufacturing
▲ 58.9%
Employment by region
In the year to September 2016, there were 227,000 Pacific peoples of working age. Of these, 147,800 Pacific peoples were in the labour market. By region,
participation rates for Pacific peoples in the South Island were higher than in the North Island. The participation rate for Pacific peoples in Auckland was 63.7
per cent and 66.1 per cent in Wellington.
Biggest rises
Accommodation & Food Services
Utilities and Construction
Education and Training
down 1.9pp from a year ago
4.5pp above NZ average (5.0%)
Labour supply and participation
Working age population ('000)
Employment rate
5%
10%
Total All Ethnic Groups
15%
Sep-2016
3,200
23,200
15,000
17,000
7,700
11,800
3,500
Annual
18.5%
0.9%
31.6%
0.7%
69.2%
19.7%
4.5%
11,000
8,600
8,400
15,100
6,500
133,700
0.9%
18.3%
22.5%
1.2%
0.4%
11.6%
Change
Three-year
15.3%
18.5%
101.3%
42.9%
55.6%
23.8%
33.7%
30.7%
26.1%
39.8%
31.5%
27.7%
37.7%
Note: Sum of employment by industry may not equal total employed due to rounding. The smaller estimates are subject to
20% large sampling errors. The above figures are annual average, and may differ from Statistics New Zealand's published figures.
*Includes rental, hiring & real estate services, administrative & support services, and professional, scientific & technical services,
and other services.
Occupational Representation
Pacific peoples employment by occupation, Sep 2016
Pacific peoples representation in skilled occupations has improved.
Pacific peoples in skilled occupations total 46,900 workers in
September 2016, an increase of 7,200 workers (up 18.1 per
cent) from a year ago.
35.5% of Pacific
peoples were in
skilled*
occupations
Over the year, employment in most occupation groups
increased. The biggest increases in employment were for
managers (39.8 per cent or 3,400 workers), plant workers (16.1
per cent or 2,100 workers) and professionals (11.6 per cent or
2,000 workers). These occupation groups make up 54.0 per
cent of the total increase in Pacific peoples employment for
September 2016.
19.8% of Pacific
peoples were in
low skilled
occupations
* Includes those in managerial, professional, and
trades & technician occupation groups; low
skilled occupations are those under the
Labourers
26,200
20%
Plant
15,200
12%
Sales
12,300
9%
Managers
11,800
9%
Professionals
19,000
14%
Occupational representation, Sep
2016
25%
20%
15%
10%
Clerks
15,800
12%
Technicians
and Trades
16,200
12%
Service
15,800
12%
5%
0%
Managers Professionals Technicians
and Trades
Pacific peoples
Source: Household Labour Force Survey, Statistics New Zealand
Youth disengagement
The proportion of young people who are not engaged in employment, education, or training (NEET) is used as an indicator of youth disengagement.
In September 2016, there were about 67,000 Pacific peoples aged 15-24 years. Of these, about 11,200 people were NEET, an increase of 600 from a
year ago. By gender, the Pacific NEET rate has been consistently higher than other ethnic groups for both males and females, except for Maori
females in all quarters and Maori males in most quarters. Among Pacific peoples aged 15-24 years, 13.6 per cent of males and 20.1 per cent of
females were NEET in September 2016.The NEET rate for both males and females increased over the year. The NEET rate for Pacific peoples was
16.8 per cent in September 2016.
Ethnic group
European
Māori
Pacific Peoples
Asian
Total All Ethnic Groups
Clerks
Sales
Plant
Labourers
Total All Ethnic Groups
NEET rate by ethnic group
NEET rate
Sep-2016
9.2
19.5
16.8
9.2
11.3
Change (percentage points)
Annual
Three-year
0.2pp
1.1pp
1.3pp
4.2pp
0.2pp
3.7pp
2.2pp
2.0pp
0.1pp
1.2pp
Pacific Peoples NEET rate by gender
NEET rate
Sep-2016
13.6
20.1
16.8
Change (percentage points)
Annual
Three-year
1.2pp
0.8pp
0.3pp
7.6pp
0.2pp
3.7pp
Source: Statistics New Zealand, MBIE
Gender
Overall, Pacific peoples have a higher NEET rate than Europeans and Asians. However, over the past three years, Pacific peoples had a
lower NEET rate than Māori .
Service
Male
Female
Total
This document reports key labour market information for Pacific Peoples for the year to September 2016. All data is sourced from the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) released quarterly by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ). Data is annualised to address sampling error and seasonal variation concerns. For the purposes of this factsheet “total response” data is used. This
means that Pacific Peoples refers to everyone who has selected that ethnic group, regardless of whether they have also selected another group. The subnational estimates (eg regional breakdown or ethnic group) are subject to larger sampling errors than the national estimates. Therefore, caution is needed when using and interpreting subnational estimates. Due to
methodological and question changes in the survey in the June 2016 quarter, caution is needed when interpreting the changes in the employment indicators.