Source: EMA
The EMA says today’s unemployment numbers may not be telling the full story of what is happening in the economy given the pressure many businesses find themselves facing.
The latest numbers released by Stats NZ show that the unemployment rate increased from 3.9% to 4.0% in the December quarter.
EMA Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald says while this was better than expected, he suspects the picture is actually worse than the statistics show.
“These numbers are from the last three months of 2023. We know anecdotally that the economic situation has further deteriorated, and the real unemployment rate today is likely to be higher. The numbers released today don’t feel right.
“We are increasingly hearing from our members that the economic environment is becoming more and more difficult as increasing costs and rising interest rates are not only impacting consumer discretionary spending, but also increasing business financing costs,” says McDonald.
“This has been reflected through a growing number of requests for help that we are receiving from our members, who are being forced to look at their staffing.
“Our AdviceLine, which provides specialist employment advice to our members, has seen the number of calls for restructuring and redundancy support surge by nearly 90% compared with this time last year. Similar inquiries surged in the last quarter of 2023.
“Our team were dealing with more than two calls a day in January from businesses who were considering redundancy and restructuring, which is deeply concerning given the start of the year t
