Key tourism destinations such as Queenstown, Rotorua, and Auckland had some of the largest drops in filled jobs in the September 2020 quarter in the wake of COVID-19, Stats NZ said today.
Queenstown-Lakes district had 1,155 fewer jobs in the September 2020 quarter than in the same period last year – a 5.3 percent decrease.
Jobs filled in Rotorua district decreased by 1.1 percent (329 jobs). Auckland experienced level 3 lockdown restrictions in August and had a 0.4 percent fall (3,186 jobs) in the September 2020 quarter.
Filled jobs also fell by 2.9 percent (108 jobs) in Waitomo district and by 2.7 percent (142 jobs) in Ruapehu district.
“The falls in these popular tourist destinations coincided with the wage subsidies finishing and COVID-19 border restrictions interrupting international tourism,” business insights manager Sue Chapman said.
International travel: September 2020 for more information about overseas visitor numbers.
| Territorial Authority | Queenstown-Lakes District | Rotorua | Auckland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep-19 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 2.7 |
| Dec-19 | 5.4 | 1.9 | 2.9 |
| Mar-20 | 3.9 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| Jun-20 | -0.2 | -0.9 | 1.3 |
| Sep-20 | -5.3 | -1.1 | -0.4 |
“These decreases are part of an overall weaker picture for both filled jobs and gross earnings across a number of industries, since the onset of COVID-19,” Ms Chapman said.
Total filled jobs were up only 0.2 percent (4,777 jobs) to 2.1 million jobs in the September 2020 quarter compared with the September 2019 quarter. This was the smallest year on year rise since the series began.
Total gross earnings outpaced filled job numbers, increasing by 5.6 percent ($1.8 billion) to $34 billion in the September 2020 quarter.
“Despite job numbers remaining at a similar level to last year, the average gross income has increased,” Ms Chapman said.
| September quarter | Filled jobs | Gross earnings |
| Sep-12 | 0.7 | 4 |
| Sep-13 | 2 | 4.1 |
| Sep-14 | 2.8 | 6.6 |
| Sep-15 | 2.2 | 6.2 |
| Sep-16 | 3 | 3.3 |
| Sep-17 | 3.4 | 6.1 |
| Sep-18 | 1.7 | 6.5 |
| Sep-19 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Sep-20 | 0.2 | 5.6 |
In September 2020 quarter compared with September 2019, transport, postal, and warehousing, down 5,537 jobs (6.2 percent) had the largest fall, followed by administrative and support services, down 3,819 jobs (3.9 percent). Manufacturing, and accommodation and food services also had falls of over 3,000 filled jobs.
Increases in construction, health care and social assistance, and public administration and safety balanced out some of these decreases – all had rises of over 7,000 jobs compared with the September 2019 quarter.
| Industry (ANZSIC06) | Filled jobs |
| Health care and social assistance | 7848 |
| Public administration and safety | 7820 |
| Construction | 7264 |
| “Agriculture | 4859 |
| forestry | 1569 |
| and fishing” | 587 |
| Other services | 36 |
| “Electricity | -52 |
| gas | -147 |
| water | -289 |
| and waste services” | -427 |
| “Professional | -1408 |
| scientific | -1945 |
| and technical services” | -2624 |
| Mining | -2783 |
| “Rental | -3026 |
| hiring | -3149 |
| and real estate services” | -3819 |
| Financial and insurance services | -5537 |
| Retail trade | |
| Education and training | |
| Wholesale trade | |
| Arts and recreation services | |
| Information media and telecommunications | |
| Accommodation and food services | |
| Manufacturing | |
| Administrative and support services | |
| “Transport | |
| postal | |
| and warehousing” |
Business employment data: September 2020 quarter is the first release of a new quarterly collection of business employment data. This release provides more detail and a longer back series than the monthly employment indicators release.
Introducing a new business employment statistics release has more information.
