An overview of labour force participation in Auckland, as indicated by results of Stats NZ's quarterly Household Labour Force Survey. HLFS

Overview and highlights

For the June¹ 2023 quarter, compared to the preceding quarter (March 2023)² :

• Auckland’s unemployment rate was 3.6%, similar to 3.5% in March 2023.² This was Auckland’s second-lowest June unemployment rate since 2007.
• The number of people who were unemployed rose to 36,800 (+2,500).
• The number of people employed also rose, to 985,700 (+4,500; full-time +5,900).
• The number of people not in the labour force (NILF) fell slightly to 347,300 (-1,000).
• The labour force participation rate rose slightly to 74.6%, a new record high.

In addition, for the June 2023 quarter:

• The rate of young people aged 15 to 24 not in employment, education or training (NEET) was 11.4%, similar to March (11.7%) and to the rest of New Zealand (10.4%).

Over the year ended June 2023, compared to the year ended June 2022:

• The unemployment rate averaged 3.4%, similar to 3.3% for year ended June 2022.
• Unemployment rate for ages 55+ rose (+0.9% to 2.1%, overtaking ages 40 to 54 (1.9%)), and for ages 20 to 24 fell slightly (-0.5% to 6.4%); rates across other age groups changed minimally, leaving ages 15 to 19 (14.9%) still the highest age group.
• The unemployment rate for females averaged 3.9%, higher than the previous year (3.4%). The rate for males averaged 3.0% (similar to 3.1% a year prior), so the gap between males and females (0.9%) reverted to nearly the 10-year average (1.1%).
• Unemployment rates and changes varied between ethnic groups: for Māori the rate rose slightly (to 7.6%); Pacific peoples were similar (6.4%); Asian peoples rose (3.1%); while European peoples fell slightly (2.4%), all compared to the year before.
• The labour force participation rate (LFPR) averaged 74.2%, higher than a year earlier (72.1%) and a new record highest in at least 28 years.
• The labour force participation rate for females (69.7% – a new record) rose significantly (up 2.5% from 67.2%); for males (a record 78.8%) it rose less (up 1.6% from 77.2%).
• Labour force participation rates rose for all age groups, especially ages 15-19 (48.7%, up 5.6% from 43.1%) and 20-24 (81.9%, up 4.0%); there were slight rises for ages 40-54 (89.4% up 1.5%), 25-39 (87.6% up 0.8%) and 55+ (52.5% up 1.7%), all record highs.
• Labour force participation rates rose for all ethnicities, especially Pacific (67.5%, up 3.1%), Asian (78.0%, a 2.1% rise) and European (75.1%, up 1.9%), but also Māori (69.4%, up 1.4%). All groups were at record levels except Māori (69.9% in June 2018).

In addition, over the year ended June 2023:

• The annual average NEET rate for Auckland was 11.1%, similar to the rest of New Zealand (11.3%), and slightly below the year ended June 2022 (11.9%).
• Auckland’s NEET rate had fully recovered (fallen) to pre-pandemic levels 2016-2019.
• Auckland NEET rates were highest for Māori (19.5%) and Pacific (17.3%) ethnicities, Southern Initiative area (18.0%), and those aged 20 to 24 years (13.5%).

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1. See note in Introduction regarding impact of floods and Cyclone Gabrielle

2. Results are not seasonally adjusted, and include Stats NZ revisions (usually minor) of previous periods’ data.

3. The definition of ‘similar/slightly’ or ‘different’ is relative to survey sampling error margins produced by Stats NZ. For further details see ‘Significant difference’ in Appendix 1.

Overview published September 2023.

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