Fewer jobless: Govt claims credit

Press, 14 May 1985, Page 1

Fewer jobless: Govt claims credit

By

MICHAEL HANNAH

in Wellington

confidence” among the business community about the Government’s economic policies. Registered unemployed fell 6784, or 10 per cent in March, but only 2016, or 4 per cent, in April. Virtually no impact showed from a drop in vacation workers registered as out of work. Their impact was felt in the subsidised job creation programmes, where numbers dropped 11,534 in March, and only 320 in April.

Unemployment figures last month fell to their lowest level in almost three years, with 48,912 people registered on the Labour Department’s books as unemployed.

Both the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, and the Minister of Employment, Mr Burke, claimed credit for the Government’s economic policies in cutting registered unemployed numbers a further 2016 in April.

However, there were signs in the official statistics that the economic growth, which has mopped up unemployed workers steadily in the last year, has started to slow. Mr Lange conceded at a press conference that this was the case but maintained that there was still “very considerable

Christchurch and Timaru showed fewer people unemployed in April than in March. Blenheim, Nelson and Greymouth reported increases.

The total number employed on partly subsidised job creation schemes fell 161 in April to 16,681. The number employed on fully subsidised job creation

schemes fell 159 to 20,561.

The number of schoolleavers registered as unemployed fell 423 to 4129, though there were 1669 new entrants on the young persons training programme during the month, and 724 new entrants on the schoolleavers training and employment preparation scheme.

Mr Lange said the decline to below 50,000 registered unemployed was a substantial drop since the Government took office last July. It compared with a projection by the previous National Government that there would be 70,300 registered unemployed by March, 1985, under National’s policies.

The Government would continue its economic policies to build a substantial, sound base for economic

prosperity, Mr Lange said. He saw a risk, however, that people assumed that the recent economic growth would continue.

high inflation and high interest rates.

He maintained the Government had achieved employment growth, reality, and a return to economic fitness which would enable New Zealand to stop selling itself to overseas interests through expanding overseas borrowings. He acknowledged the short-term pain in this process, and said that there were interest-rate levels which he considered could not persist. The Minister of Employment, Mr Burke, described the latest figures as a phenomenal result. He had expected the April figures still to be above 50,000. “This is the first time we have got below 49,000 since July, 1982,” Mr Burke said. He complimented private sector employers, local bodies, community groups

“My own view is that it, will not, and that we now need to make sure that we have what could be described as a soft landing. All our economic strategy will be to work to that end,” he said. The decline in unemployed had not been as dramatic in April as in March.

“But there is still a very considerable confidence in the business community about our economic policies that has led to good investment decisions and the commercial sector has had confidence enough to engage extra staff,” he said. Mr Lange denied that the extra jobs had been “bought” at the expense of

and the Labour Department for their efforts in responding to the unemployment problem since Labour came to office. He considered that the unemployed were benefiting from the Labour Department’s computer-based job search programme, which was expanding and speeding up the finding of jobs and filling positions.

Mr Burke said he was optimistic the present labour market buoyancy would continue in the shortterm but warned that the rapid economic growth experienced in recent months was likely to start levelling off over the rest of the year. He noted that registered unemployment was 16,670 below the figure for the corresponding time last year.

Further report, page 3.