Chch worst hit in national jobless rise

Press, 20 December 1985, Page 3

Chch worst hit in national jobless rise

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

Registered unemployment rose nearly 2000 during November with Christchurch the worst hit area, according to Labour Department figures.

The number rose 1992 from 49,111 to 51,103 and represented 3.8 per cent of the workforce. The level was still 4428 down on the 55,531 of November, 1984. Included in the registered unemployed were 3060 school leavers, an increase of 550 on the 2510 in October.

There were 34,019 men registered as unemployed compared with 33,565 a month ago, and 17,084 women compared with 15,546 a month ago. As well, there are 9579 tertiary students registered as seeking vacation employment, bringing the total to 60,682. Of those registered — 16,333 had been enrolled for less than four weeks, 17,935 for between four and 12 weeks, 11,058 for between 13 and 25 weeks, and 5777 for more than half a year. The worst-affected area was Christchurch, with registered unemployment up 397. Other rises were recorded by Hamilton (up 395), Whangarei (up 325), New Plymouth (up 301), Wellington (up 211), Auck-

land (up 212), and Dunedin (up 204). Only Hastings (down 314) and Masterton (down 153) recorded significant drops. There were 12,662 people engaged on partly subsidised employment assistance programmes, which was down 825 on October and down 11,543 from November last year. There were also 16,703 engaged on fully subsidised employment assistance and training programmes, which was down 340 from October and down 7045 from November last year. Details of the districts in the northern half of the South Island, with October figures in parentheses, were:—

Blenheim — 381 males (378), 180 females (175), 561 total (553), up eight. Nelson — 657 males (643), 461 females (446), 1118 total (1089), up 29. Greymouth — 476 males (435), 231 females (209), 707 total (644), up 63.

Christchurch — 3730 males (3558), 2175 females (1950), total 5905 (5508), up 397.

Timaru — 820 males (901), 350 females (276), total 1170 (1177), down seven.

In Christchurch there were 163 school leavers registered as unemployed, compared with 115 in Octo-

ber and 276 in November last year. Fewer employment opportunities were available in November. The department was able to make 488 job placements, compared with 911 in October, and there were 367 vacancies unfilled at the end of November, compared with 518 in October.

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition and former Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger, said the economic recession was already costing jobs. These figures were evidence that the job market was tightening up, and those looking for part-time work had also been caught. He said that the chances in subsidised job schemes would not help if there were an over-all contraction in the number of jobs available.

He challenged the Government to reveal what its official forecasts showed in terms of projected job losses in 1986.

The Minister of Employment, Mr Burke, said that although 9000-odd university students had registered as unemployed it was clear that most who sought holiday work had found unsubsidised jobs. More than 59,000 had attended fulltime university courses last year.

Many would be returning next year to continue their studies and it was reasonable to assume most had found work. Mr Burke said the Government had been predicting for some time that economic activity, and consequent job growth, would level off.