New monthly snapshot of jobs and wages

A new monthly indicator for jobs and earnings will give a more up-to-date and accurate picture of employment, Stats NZ said today.

“Starting today, Stats NZ will publish a new monthly employment indicator series based on tax data,” Government Statistician Liz MacPherson said.

“The indicator will give decision-makers in government and the private sector a better, faster snapshot of how many people are in paid jobs as well as turning points in demand for workers.”

The monthly series shows that in April 1999 there were 1.45 million filled jobs with total pre-tax earnings of $3.5 billion.

Over the past 20 years that has increased to 2.16 million filled jobs and earnings of $12.2 billion in October 2019.

The new filled jobs and gross earnings employment indicator uses data published about a month after the reference quarter, and complements the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) published every three months. The QES shows demand for labour, based on a survey completed by thousands of businesses.

“The new monthly employment indicator will give the public a more timely update rather than waiting three months, and it won’t add to the burden on businesses to fill in surveys,” Ms MacPherson said.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand welcomes and supports the launch of the new employment indicator series.

“We commend the team behind the release of this important new employment indicator. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand monitors a range of labour market data and indicators, as part of our mandate to set monetary policy to contribute to sustainable maximum employment and to keep inflation low and stable. Having the new employment indicator will give us one more timely and frequent piece of evidence on the labour market to assess alongside other existing information,” Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr said.

The employment indicator series will include monthly job figures and pre-tax (gross) earnings based on payday filing tax data from businesses, sourced from Inland Revenue.

This series will also have total filled jobs at a national level, which includes full-time and part-time employees and self-employed who pay themselves a wage or salary. The monthly earnings series will be total New Zealand earnings.

Employment indicators: October 2019 – Infoshare tables is the first release of the new monthly employment indicator, available today, and includes data from April 1999 through to October 2019. Future monthly releases will be within five weeks after the reference month.

About new employment indicator series has more information.

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