Employment indicators provide an early indication of changes in the labour market.
Key facts
Changes in the seasonally adjusted filled jobs for the March 2024 month (compared with the February 2024 month) were:
- all industries - up 0.4 percent (8,477 jobs) to 2.41 million filled jobs
- primary industries - down 1.2 percent (1,292 jobs)
- goods-producing industries - up 0.3 percent (1,572 jobs)
- service industries - up 0.5 percent (8,498 jobs).
| Month | Percentage change |
| Mar-21 | 0.4 |
| Apr-21 | 0.2 |
| May-21 | 0.2 |
| Jun-21 | 0.6 |
| Jul-21 | 0.4 |
| Aug-21 | 0.5 |
| Sep-21 | 0.2 |
| Oct-21 | 0.2 |
| Nov-21 | 0.4 |
| Dec-21 | 0.1 |
| Jan-22 | 0.4 |
| Feb-22 | -0.5 |
| 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 | 0.9 |
| Feb-23 | 0.5 |
| Mar-23 | 0.3 |
| Apr-23 | 0.4 |
| 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 | 0.1 |
| Mar-24 | 0.4 |
The following figures compare March 2024 actual values with March 2023.
Filled jobs changes by industry
By industry, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with March 2023 were in:
- health care and social assistance - up 5.5 percent (14,531 jobs)
- education and training - up 4.3 percent (8,673 jobs)
- public administration and safety - up 5.2 percent (8,121 jobs)
- transport, postal, and warehousing - up 7.4 percent (6,997 jobs)
- other services - up 4.3 percent (3,490 jobs).
Filled jobs changes by region
By region, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with March 2023 were in:
- Auckland - up 2.6 percent (20,733 jobs)
- Canterbury - up 1.9 percent (6,031 jobs)
- Bay of Plenty - up 3.5 percent (5,114 jobs)
- Waikato - up 1.7 percent (3,908 jobs)
- Hawke's Bay - up 3.3 percent (2,732 jobs).
Filled jobs changes for men and women
In March 2024 compared with March 2023, the number of filled jobs rose by 1.7 percent (19,847 jobs) for men and rose by 1.4 percent (16,723 jobs) for women.
Filled jobs by age group
By age group, the largest changes in the number of filled jobs compared with March 2023 were in:
- 35-39 years - up 8.2 percent (21,057 jobs)
- 40-44 years - up 6.4 percent (14,904 jobs)
- 30-34 years - up 5.2 percent (14,817 jobs)
- 15-19 years - down 9.6 percent (13,855 jobs)
- 65+ years - up 4.7 percent (5,885 jobs).
Gross earnings
Actual gross earnings on an accrual basis for the March 2024 month were $16 billion, compared with $15 billion for the March 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 it was 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.
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: April 2024 will be released on 28 May 2024.
