Jobless school-leavers at record high

Press, 16 February 1984, Page 2

Jobless school-leavers at record high

Wellington reporter More than 130,000 people in New Zealand are now either registered as unemployed or on special work schemes, including a new record of 10,038 schoolleavers. Figures published by the Secretary of Labour for late January show increases in almost every aspect from those in mid-December.

The registered unemployed, excluding vacation workers and those on special schemes, numbered 79,978 on January 27 and represented 6 per cent of 'the work force.

At the end of January there were 5237 more registered unemployed than six weeks earlier — up from 74,741 to 79,978. Of these, 48,749 were male, compared with 46,296, and 31,229 were female (28,445). Only Invercargill, with 242, and Dunedin, with 192, showed a slight improvement in the number of unemployed.

Christchurch was up 429, Takapuna up 464, Auckland, 474, Rotorua, 661, Wellington, 668, and Hamilton, 710.

Marlborough had 4.5 per cent of its estimated workforce registered as unemployed, a total of 617 (566), 349 (337) of them men, and 268 (229) women. Nelson had 6.1 per cent of its estimated work force registered unemployed, 1607 (1583) in total, 912 (951) men, and 695 (632) women.

The West Coast had 5.5 per cent of its estimated work-force registered unemployed, 734 (687) in total, 462 (427) men, and 272 (260) women.

North Canterbury had 6.9 per cent of its estimated work-force registered unem-

ployed, 10,491 (10,062) in total, 6281 (6083) men, and 4210 (3979) women. South Canterbury had 4.6 per cent of its estimated work-force registered unemployed, 1060 (1040) in total, 591 (593) men, and 469 (447) women.

Gisborne had the highest level of registered unemployment at 8.5 per cent, followed by Rotorua with 8.3 per cent, South Auckland, 7.9 per cent, Whangarei, 7.6 per cent, Napier, 7.2 per cent, Christchurch, 6.9 per cent, and Auckland, 6.8 per cent. As well as the 79,978 registered unemployed there were 3619 vacation workers registered, giving a total of 83,597 unemployed, of whom a record 10,038 were school-leavers, 4407 males and 5631 females. The 3619 vacation workers were tertiary students registered with the Labour Department as seeking temporary employment during the summer vacation.

Of the 79,978 unemployed, excluding vacation workers, 17,732 had been registered for fewer than four weeks, 28,293 for between four and 12 weeks, 17,241 for between 13 and 25 weeks, and 16,712 for more than six months.

There were also 24,593 (including 7961 vacation workers) engaged in private sector job-creation programmes. This was up 1634 on the 22,959 last December. As well, there were 23,533 (including 1726 vacation workers) engaged on public sector job-creation and training programmes. This was down 986 on the 22,547 last December.

It was not surprising that the Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger, had left New Zealand in the month in which new unemployment records had been set, according to the Opposition spokesman on employment, Mr Peter Neilson (Lab., Miramar).

Mr Bolger must have found it particularly embarrassing that the number of unemployed school leavers had for the first time exceeded 10,000, Mr Neilson said.

He predicted that that figure would be even higher for February than for January. Other new records were for those registered as unemployed for more than six months (16,712), the total registered unemployed (83,597), and the total registered and on special schemes (131,723). The record 10,038 school-leavers was 19 per cent higher than the previous record of 8437 set in February last year, Mr Neilson said.

Mr Bolger and his Government seemed to have given up on unemployment as a problem. New peaks for registered unemployment had been set for eight of the last 14 months, and for registered unemployment and job-creation new records had been set in 10 of the last 15 months, Mr Neilson said.

The Acting Minister of Labour, Mr Gair, said the level of increase in January had been abnormal because of the entry of schoolleavers into the job market and a general lull in economic activity during the holiday period. He said he was disappointed about the increase in the number of long-term unemployed. It was a source of considerable concern to the Government and showed the need to give more assistance to the unemployed. It was normal for Project Employment Programme jobs to fall during December and January, as many projects wound down or ended at Christmas, Mr Gair said.

There was still a large number of people engaged on the P.E.P. schemes. The

level of 13,503 for January, 1984, was 15 per cent higher than that of 11,781 for January, 1983. He urged local authorities to continue co-operating with the Labour Department in providing P.E.P. jobs for the long-term unemployed. The deputy leader of Social Credit, Mr G. T. Knapp, said the January figures were “an unequivocal disaster.”

There had been an increase between January, 1981, and January, 1984, of a huge 82.3 per cent in registered unemployed and those on special work, he said. It was clear that the Government’s motive for the change had been to save money, not reduce the numbers of long-term unemployed.

Mr Neilson also said that the 1818 increase in longterm unemployment during the last six months meant that the Government’s sixmonth stand-down period for P.E.P. projects had failed.

Last November, Mr Bolger had predicted that increasing the stand-down period from two to six months would mean a reduction of about 3000 a month in the long-term unemployed. “In those three months,” Mr Neilson said, “we have had not a fall of 9000 in the numbers unemployed for six months or longer, but an increase of 1470, from the 15,242 last October to the 16,712 now.” Registered unemployed in the South Island, including vacation workers, with last year’s figures in brackets, according to NZPA, are:— Blenheim, 621 (598), 4.5; Nelson, 1613 (1657), 6.2; Greymouth, 735 (687), 5.5; Christchurch, 10,932 (11,303), 7.2; Timaru, 1074 (1153), 4.7; Dunedin, 3198 (3683), 4.4; Invercargill, 1620 (2076), 3.5.