440,000 Kiwis locked out of decent work – and it didn’t have to happen – NZCTU

A new report from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi shows how far the labour market has fallen over the last three years.

Unemployment has risen from 3.7 percent in June 2023 to 5.6 percent, with around 171,000 people out of work – up almost 40 percent since the Luxon Government took office. Long-term unemployment has risen 150 percent in three years, and more than 40 percent of unemployed people have now been looking for work for six months or more. Around 440,000 people are underutilised – the highest number since this data has been collected.

“Behind every one of these numbers is someone who wants to work and can’t find a job,” says Sandra Grey, President of NZCTU. “Hundreds of thousands of Kiwis have lost the security of a steady income, and many are stuck without work for months or even years.

“This didn’t have to happen. The Reserve Bank held the Official Cash Rate at 5.5 percent for a full year, while the Luxon Government cut public services, refused to step in for struggling industries like construction and cut support for apprenticeships – right when working people needed help.

“Tens of thousands of jobs have disappeared since 2023, and Jobseeker Support numbers have risen 26.2 percent to 218,481. Treasury forecasts they will stay above 200,000 through to 2031, far from the Government’s own target of 140,000 by 2030.

Māori and Pacific workers and young people have been hit hardest. Since 2023 unemployment has risen from 6.5 percent to 11 percent for Māori and doubled from 6 percent to 12 percent for Pacific Peoples. Youth unemployment has climbed from around 9 percent to 16.6 percent, and 94,500 young people are now not in employment, education or training.

“Unemployment can mean a lifetime of lower earnings and lasting harm to people’s mental health, and it can hollow out whole communities,” says Grey. “When young people are locked out of work or training early on, the effects can follow them for the rest of their working lives.”

The report calls on the next Government to make full employment an overarching goal and reform the Reserve Bank’s mandate, so it takes employment as seriously as price stability. It also calls for public investment in housing, infrastructure and regional development, the return of fees-free study and Apprenticeship Boost, and better-funded job-matching support.

“Christopher Luxon has watched unemployment climb for three years and done nothing to stop it. He is completely out of touch with what working people are going through. We can’t risk six years of Luxon. Every party needs to tell voters how they will create jobs and bring unemployment down, and whoever forms the next Government after 7 November must do better,” says Grey.

The full report is available on the NZCTU website.