The growth in the number of Maori in work has pleased the Minister of Employment, Roger Sowry.

The Household Labour Force Survey for the September quarter showed 14,400 more Maori were employed, and the Maori unemployment rate fell significantly from 18.2% to 14.8%.

"This demonstrates that by walking alongside people and empowering them to take charge of their lives, we're helping them break out of the welfare trap," he said.

"In the past 12 months we've created another 26,000 full time jobs with our management of the economy, and every one of these jobs is giving someone a chance to improve their situation."

Overall unemployment fell for the third quarter in a row, and there are now record numbers of people in work.

"Just this morning Carter Holt Harvey announced a $132 million new timber mill in Whangarei – creating about 110 new jobs."

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