Employment indicators provide an early indication of changes in the labour market.
Key facts
Changes in the seasonally adjusted filled jobs for the January 2025 month (compared with the December 2024 month) were:
- all industries - up 0.3 percent (7,948 jobs) to 2.36 million filled jobs
- primary industries - down 0.2 percent (198 jobs)
- goods-producing industries - down 0.2 percent (1,088 jobs)
- service industries - up 0.5 percent (8,361 jobs).
| Month | Percentage change |
| Jan-22 | 0.2 |
| 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 | -0.3 |
| Jan-23 | 0.6 |
| Feb-23 | 0.5 |
| Mar-23 | 0.3 |
| Apr-23 | 0.4 |
| May-23 | 0.1 |
| Jun-23 | 0.3 |
| Jul-23 | 0.2 |
| Aug-23 | 0 |
| Sep-23 | 0.1 |
| Oct-23 | 0.4 |
| Nov-23 | -0.2 |
| Dec-23 | 0.1 |
| Jan-24 | 0.1 |
| Feb-24 | 0 |
| Mar-24 | 0.1 |
| Apr-24 | -0.3 |
| May-24 | -0.4 |
| Jun-24 | -0.4 |
| Jul-24 | -0.3 |
| Aug-24 | -0.1 |
| Sep-24 | -0.1 |
| Oct-24 | -0.2 |
| Nov-24 | 0.2 |
| Dec-24 | -0.1 |
| Jan-25 | 0.3 |
The following figures are actual values for January 2025 and are compared with January 2024.
- Filled jobs were 2.34 million, down 28,700 (1.2 percent).
Filled jobs changes by industry
By industry, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with January 2024 were in:
- construction - down 6.6 percent (13,457 jobs)
- education and training - up 4.0 percent (7,857 jobs)
- administrative and support services - down 7.0 percent (7,073 jobs)
- health care and social assistance - up 2.3 percent (6,314 jobs)
- manufacturing - down 2.6 percent (6,292 jobs).
Filled jobs changes by region
By region, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with January 2024 were in:
- Auckland - down 1.7 percent (13,766 jobs)
- Wellington - down 1.8 percent (4,666 jobs)
- Manawatū-Whanganui - down 1.5 percent (1,655 jobs)
- Bay of Plenty - down 1.1 percent (1,541 jobs)
- Hawke's Bay - down 1.7 percent (1,374 jobs).
Filled jobs changes for men and women
In January 2025 compared with January 2024, the number of filled jobs fell by 1.9 percent (23,092 jobs) for men and fell by 0.9 percent (10,973 jobs) for women.
Filled jobs by age group
By age group, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with January 2024 were in:
- 15-19 years - down 11 percent (15,402 jobs)
- 25-29 years - down 4.7 percent (12,202 jobs)
- 30-34 years - down 2.5 percent (7,370 jobs)
- 20-24 years - down 3.3 percent (7,366 jobs)
- 35-39 years - up 2.6 percent (6,892 jobs).
Gross earnings
Actual gross earnings on an accrual basis for the January 2025 month were $15.6 billion, compared with $15.4 billion for the January 2024 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 can still be accessed on Infoshare.
Actual data published for employment indicators is provisional for three months while additional payday filing data is received.
More data
Use Infoshare to view and download time-series data for:
Employment indicators
Subject category: Work, income, and spending
Group: Employment indicators - MEI
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.
Definitions and metadata
Employment indicators - DataInfo+ provides general methodology and definitions relevant for employment statistics.
Technical enquiries
Declan Tobin
04 931 4600
[email protected]
Next release
Employment indicators: February 2025 will be released on 28 March 2025.
