Employment indicators provide an early indication of changes in the labour market.
Key facts
Changes in the seasonally adjusted filled jobs for the April 2024 month (compared with the March 2024 month) were:
- all industries – up 0.1 percent (1,534 jobs) to 2.4 million filled jobs
- primary industries – down 0.5 percent (539 jobs)
- goods-producing industries – up 0.2 percent (1,005 jobs)
- service industries – flat (up 846 jobs).
| Month | Percentage change |
| Apr-21 | 0.2 |
| May-21 | 0.2 |
| Jun-21 | 0.6 |
| Jul-21 | 0.4 |
| Aug-21 | 0.5 |
| Sep-21 | 0.1 |
| Oct-21 | 0.2 |
| Nov-21 | 0.4 |
| Dec-21 | 0.1 |
| Jan-22 | 0.3 |
| Feb-22 | -0.4 |
| Mar-22 | -0.3 |
| Apr-22 | 0.3 |
| May-22 | 0.1 |
| Jun-22 | 0.3 |
| Jul-22 | 0.4 |
| Aug-22 | 0.4 |
| Sep-22 | 0.3 |
| Oct-22 | 0.1 |
| Nov-22 | 0.3 |
| Dec-22 | -0.4 |
| Jan-23 | 0.8 |
| Feb-23 | 0.6 |
| Mar-23 | 0.3 |
| Apr-23 | 0.5 |
| May-23 | 0 |
| Jun-23 | 0.2 |
| Jul-23 | 0.2 |
| Aug-23 | 0 |
| Sep-23 | 0.1 |
| Oct-23 | 0.3 |
| Nov-23 | -0.1 |
| Dec-23 | -0.1 |
| Jan-24 | 0.4 |
| Feb-24 | 0 |
| Mar-24 | 0.3 |
| Apr-24 | 0.1 |
The following figures compare April 2024 actual values with April 2023.
Filled jobs changes by industry
By industry, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with April 2023 were in:
- health care and social assistance – up 5.7 percent (15,276 jobs)
- education and training – up 3.7 percent (7,537 jobs)
- transport, postal, and warehousing – up 6.5 percent (6,290 jobs)
- public administration and safety – up 3.9 percent (6,227 jobs)
- administrative and support services – down 3.7 percent (4,335 jobs).
Filled jobs changes by region
By region, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with April 2023 were in:
- Auckland – up 1.8 percent (14,404 jobs)
- Canterbury – up 1.9 percent (5,962 jobs)
- Bay of Plenty – up 2.4 percent (3,597 jobs)
- Waikato – up 1.2 percent (2,825 jobs)
- Otago – up 1.2 percent (1,446 jobs).
Filled jobs changes for men and women
In April 2024 compared with April 2023, the number of filled jobs rose by 0.8 percent (9,137 jobs) for men and rose by 0.9 percent (10,894 jobs) for women.
Filled jobs by age group
By age group, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with April 2023 were in:
- 35-39 years – up 7.4 percent (19,145 jobs)
- 15-19 years – down 10.2 percent (14,903 jobs)
- 40-44 years – up 5.8 percent (13,563 jobs)
- 30-34 years – up 3.9 percent (11,249 jobs)
- 65+ years – up 4.3 percent (5,283 jobs).
Gross earnings
Actual gross earnings on an accrual basis for the April 2024 month were $15.4 billion, compared with $14.7 billion for the April 2023 month.
About the data
The actual gross earnings in this release were calculated on an accrual basis, where earnings are allocated proportionally to the period in which they are earned.
The accrual method removes the volatility of monthly data. For example, a fortnightly pay period might occur twice in some months and three times in other months.
Due to the shorter time series and minor revisions to data in the actual gross earnings series, the data is not directly comparable to calculations for monthly earnings on a cash basis (which covers the amount paid in the reference month).
Gross earnings on a cash basis are available from Infoshare.
More data
Use Infoshare to view and download time-series data for:
Employment indicators
Subject category: Work, income, and spending
Group: Employment indicators – MEI
Tables:
- Age and region by variable (monthly)
- High level industry by variable (monthly)
- High level industry by variable (qrtly-Feb/May/Aug/Nov)
- High level industry by variable (qrtly-Mar/Jun/Sep/Dec)
- High level industry by variable (qrtly-Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct)
- Industry by variable (monthly)
- Region by variable (monthly)
- Sex and age by variable (monthly)
- Sex and region by variable (monthly).
Note that due to a small portion of uncoded data, there will be small differences in the sum for filled jobs by region, age, sex, and the value for total New Zealand.
Revision to December 2023-March 2024 data
This month’s employment indicators release includes corrections to the region coding of about 440 to 540 filled jobs from December 2023 to March 2024. These jobs belong to employees living in Rolleston, Christchurch. In previously released data, they were incorrectly coded to the Westland Territorial Authority in the West Coast regional council area. They are now correctly assigned to the Selwyn Territorial Authority which is in the Canterbury regional council area.
Definitions and metadata
Employment indicators – DataInfo+ provides general methodology and definitions relevant for employment statistics.
Technical enquiries
Sue Chapman
03 964 8371
[email protected]
Next release
Employment indicators: May 2024 will be released on 1 July 2024.
