NZ employment confidence showed a marked improvement in September - Westpac

Anne Boniface, Senior Economist at Westpac, notes that the NZ employment confidence showed a marked improvement in September, as workers became more upbeat about both current and future employment prospects.

Key Quotes

“The lift was broad based, with employment confidence increasing across almost all regions. The only exception was the Bay of Plenty where employment confidence was broadly flat.

Improving confidence is consistent with other indicators of labour market activity. It suggests the solid momentum in employment growth over the first half of the year is likely to be have been maintained into the second half of 2016.

Yet despite the big lift in confidence, the soft spot in the labour market is still wages. Workers remain particularly circumspect about the prospect of higher wages over the year ahead.”