Source: Radio New Zealand
Regional confidence was led by Gisborne/Hawke’s Bay, Canterbury and Southland. 123rf
Employment confidence has risen to a two-year high as people’s perceptions about job availability improved.
The Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index rose 1.8 points to 95.6 in the March quarter. However, a reading below 100 means pessimists still outweigh optimists.
Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said perceptions about job availability – a measure closely related to the unemployment rate – continued to improve this quarter.
“The survey results, taken on their own, would be consistent with the unemployment rate having reached its peak, and perhaps even begun falling, in the early part of this year,” Gordon said.
He said recent evidence also pointed to a pick-up in businesses’ hiring intentions as the economy started to get back on its feet.
However, the survey found households were still cautious about current and future pay rises, and about job security over the year ahead.
Confidence was highest among private-sector employees, rising 7.5 points to 103.5, according to Imogen Rendall, Market Research Director at McDermott Miller.
“In contrast, public sector employees’ confidence dipped slightly by 1.2 points to 95.6,” Rendall said.
Regional confidence was led by Gisborne/Hawke’s Bay, Canterbury and Southland.
Confidence in Auckland and Wellington remained subdued, although the capital posted a sharp rise from 80.5 to 90.8.
Gordon cautioned that the survey period – 1 to 12 March – was during the early days of the Iran conflict, when households and employers may not yet have been aware of its full economic consequences.
“As such, it’s unclear whether this confidence will be maintained in the months ahead, in what is an uncertain and rapidly evolving situation,” he said.
The survey was carried out in early March with a sample size of 1550, and had a margin of error of 2.5 percent.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
