employment

The government’s refusal to implement plans to tackle the high NZ dollar is stopping unemployment from coming down as quickly as it could, a union for workers in the productive sector said today.

Unemployment remains high, at 6.5 per cent, in today’s Household Labour Force Survey.

Unions are calling for the government to do more to create jobs
after figures released today showed a jump in unemployment.

.....

Council of Trade Unions secretary Peter Conway said unemployment
appeared to be stuck at a high rate and the Government needed to
act to create jobs.

"The government cannot simply sit back and rely on the Rugby
World Cup and rebuilding due to the Christchurch earthquake to
boost jobs."

National Distribution Union president Robert Reid also
criticised the lack of action from the Government.

"By sitting on the sidelines the government is contributing to
unemployment levels remaining high," Reid said.

"The New Zealand economy needs more stimulus measures to ensure
that job growth occurs.

"An increase in the minimum wage to $15 needs to be a core part
of that stimulus."

Read the full NZPA story here.

New Zealand is at risk of having a jobless economic recovery, the National Distribution Union warned today.

Latest jobs statistics show unemployment has risen to 6.8 per cent in the December quarter.

“Despite recent upbeat noises from forecasters and economists, there are still 158,000 New Zealand workers officially unemployed.”

Today’s worsening economic outlook will be felt especially hard in Kawerau, where 26 sawmill workers have just been told they are to lose their jobs.

The redundancies are at Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Kawerau Sawmill, said the National Distribution Union (NDU), which represents the workers at the mill.

“Today’s announcement reflects what we are hearing throughout the wood processing industry, that the post-recession optimism is rapidly turning back into pessimism,” NDU General Secretary Robert Reid said.