Drop in unemployed

Press, 20 September 1985, Page 2

Drop in unemployed

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

Another small drop of 388 in the number of registered unemployed was recorded during August, compared with July. This comes after several months when the number of unemployed had risen under the influence of seasonal loss of work.

There were 49,596 registered at the end of August compared with 49,984 at the end of July, and compared with 63,417 at the end of August, 1984. There were also 14,258 people on partly subsidised employment assistance programmes, down 337 on the 14,586 in July and down 4513 on the 18,761 in August, 1984; and 17,748 on fully subsidised employment and training assistance programmes, down 217 on the 17,965 in July and down 5502 on the 23,250 in August, 1984.

This has led to a drop of 943 in those unemployed or on special programmes, from 82,535 in July to 81,592 in August. Included in the August unemployed total of 49,596 were 2973 school-leavers, a drop of 16 on July. Of those registered as unemployed, 14,580 had been enrolled for less than four weeks, 20,317 from four to 12 weeks, 8651 from 13 to 25 weeks, and 6048 for more than 26 weeks.

The district with the biggest drop during the month was Auckland, down 526. Christchurch was down 200, Hamilton down 170, and Takapuna down 103. Unemployment was up 208 in Whangarei, up 180 in Palmerston North, up 123 in Invercargill, and up 102 in Hastings.

Details of registered unemployed in the northern half of the South Island, with July figures in brackets were: Blenheim: 355 males (333), 185 females (177), total 540 (510), an increase of 30. Nelson: 588 males (547), 435 females (471), total 1023 (1018), increase of five. Greymouth: 440 males (408), 219 females (217), total 659 (625), increase of 34. Christchurch: 3862 males (3818), 1970 females (2214), total 5832 (6032), decrease of 200. Timaru: 880 males (886), 324 females (346), total 1208 (1232), decrease of 28. The Minister of Employment, Mr Burke, said that while the drop was relatively small it was still good news after two months of rising unemployment. However, further slight increases could be expected again in the coming months, and the total registered unemployed could be higher in March next year than in March this year. Both economic and seasonal factors would have a significant impact on employment in the months ahead; and excessive wage rises were liable to lead to job losses, he said. In the Christchurch employment district, 5832 people were registered as unemployed at the end of August, or 200 fewer than at the end of July. In August last year there were 8103 registered as unemployed in the district, which includes Rangiora and Ashburton. At the end of August there were 1918 people on public sector job-creation programmes in Christchurch and 2276 on private sector schemes. The corresponding figures for last month were 1892 and 2374.

In August last year there were 1974 on public sector schemes and 2820 on private sector schemes. The number of schoolleavers registered as unemployed in Christchurch fell from 162 at the end of July to 141 at the end of August. In August last year 286 school-leavers were registered as unemployed in Christchurch.