Employment picture worsens

Press, 24 July 1987, Page 1

Employment picture worsens

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

There is more bad news on unemployment, with a rise of 5128 in ' the- 3 registered unemployed during June. The winter increase is in line with earlier Labour Department forecasts. The only regions in which unemployment has decreased are Taranaki and Northland.

By the end of June there were 84,122 job-seekers registered with the department, compared with 78,994 at the end of May. This new total represents 6.3 per cent of the workforce.

The figure of 84,122 is an increase of 23,857 on the June, 1986, figure. Included in the total are 4709 school-leavers, an increase of 386 or 8.9 per cent on the previous month. Of those registered, 24,070 had

been enrolled for less than four weeks, 24,136 for four to 13 weeks, 15,905 for 13 to 26 weeks, and 20,011 for more than six months. ’-■> «

Unemployment was up for the month itf Southland (1020), Otago (845), Rotorua (554), Hawke’s Bay (510), Tauranga (471), Waikato (394), North Canterbury (250), South Canterbury (249), South Auckland (223) and Wan-ganui-Manawatu (217). It was down for the month in Northland (492) and New Plymouth (213). At the end of June there were 7895 people on partly subsidised employment assistance programmes (598 more than in May and 265 more than a year ago) and 741 people on fully subsidised employment assistance programmes (65 less than in May and 11,074 less than a year ago).

There were 15,732 people receiving training at the end of June, down 510 on the 16,242 at the end of May.

The Minister of Employment, Mr Goff, said the increase was mainly a result of the seasonal reduction in work in the freezing industry and in horticulture. He said the pattern of regional unemployment increases followed closely the seasonal layoffs in kiwifruit picking and other horticulture (Tauranga, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay) and the freezing works (Southland, Otago, Wairarapa, South Canterbury, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne).

Unemployment was projected to peak at 91,000 by the end of the year, but there were grounds for confidence that there would be a reduction in unemployment from early next year.