Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Video | Agriculture | Confidence | Economy | Energy | Employment | Finance | Media | Property | RBNZ | Science | SOEs | Tax | Technology | Telecoms | Tourism | Transport | Search

 

GDP increasing but productivity lagging behind

GDP increasing but productivity lagging behind

GDP figures out today show that there was a strong increase, at 0.9 percent, in what New Zealand produced in the three months to December 2015. Normally that should mean higher incomes for New Zealanders.

But CTU Economist, Bill Rosenberg says that the picture underlying that is not as rosy.

"Firstly, this increase is partly driven by more people moving to New Zealand. Per person, production only increased 0.3 percent over the three months - and what benefited people living in New Zealand rather than people overseas actually fell 0.1 percent", Rosenberg said.

"Behind this are poor productivity increases. What was produced for each hour people worked also fell 0.1 percent over the three months. It rose only 0.2 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

"Productivity forms the basis for a better standard of living - if it flows through into wages. We need strongly rising rather than falling productivity to really improve future incomes. Government, employers and working people all have critical roles to play in boosting productivity.

"Secondly, business investment was not high enough. It fell 2.6 percent over the three months and 1.4 percent over the same period last year. The Government needs to do more to support productive investment in businesses rather than speculation in real estate.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

"Finance and real estate are among the highest growth areas of the economy. Yet agriculture and manufacturing both produced less over the three months to December, and over the year their production increased more slowly than the rest of the economy. There is strong growth in tourism, but many of its jobs are insecure and low paid.

"As a nation we are producing more and getting less for it. There are also growing concerns about the international economy. The Government has a critical role to play in turning this around and to ensure that working people are getting their fair share," Rosenberg said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

 
 
 
Business Headlines | Sci-Tech Headlines

 
GenPro: General Practices Begin Issuing Clause 14 Notices

GenPro has been copied into a rising number of Clause 14 notices issued since the NZNO lodged its Primary Practice Pay Equity Claim against General Practice employers in December 2023.More

SPADA: Screen Industry Unites For Streaming Platform Regulation & Intellectual Property Protections

In an unprecedented international collaboration, representatives of screen producing organisations from around the world have released a joint statement.More

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.