Figures released today by Statistics New Zealand show the number of filled jobs has grown strongly.

The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) shows an increase of 3.1 per cent in the year to June.

“It’s great to see more people moving to areas where skills are required. There were an additional 10,000 construction jobs which was up 6.8 per cent. Construction is now at an all-time high and that trend is set to continue,” Mr Joyce says.

Other areas that experienced increases were accommodation and food services which had an additional 14,000 jobs (11 per cent), health care and social assistance workers which had 9,100 jobs added (4.1 per cent) and professional, scientific, technical, administrative and support services up 9,100 jobs (3.6 per cent).

Wage growth is also increasing at a healthy margin over inflation. Average weekly wage growth in the year to June is 2.0 per cent, against a CPI for the year of 0.4 per cent. That makes for a real wage increase of 1.6 per cent for the year and continues a trend of moderate real wage growth.

“The growth in jobs underlines our commitment to creating an environment where businesses have the confidence to invest and where people are able to gain the skills to work in areas of growth. These are key priorities in the Government’s Business Growth Agenda.”

The Household Labour Force Survey, which records the unemployment rate will be released by Statistics New Zealand on August 17th.