Youth Labour Market Factsheet – June 2008

August 2008

This factsheet reports key youth labour market information for the year to June 2008. All data are sourced from the Household Labour Force Survey released by Statistics New Zealand. Age data are not seasonally adjusted and so all figures are averaged over a year to reduce seasonal variation and sample error. For the purposes of this factsheet, youth refers to those aged 15-19 years.

Summary of the youth labour market for the year to June 2008

Long description for Youth Labour Market Summary

Participation

The youth participation rate was 55.3% for the year to June 2008. This is the same rate as for the year to June 2007 but is up strongly from 51.9% for the year to June 1999. While the youth participation rate is below the national annual average participation rate of 68.3%, the high rates of secondary and tertiary education in this age group mean that the participation rate on its own is not as meaningful of a measure of outcomes as it is for other age groups.

Employment

Employment growth for youth has been high at 2.9% per annum on average since June 1999. This expansion in employment is higher than the economy-wide average of 2.3% since 1999. Over the last year annual average youth employment grew by 0.5%, below the average rate of 1.1% for all persons.

Unemployment

The unemployment rate for youth increased to 14.4% for the year to June 2008. This is up from 14.0% for the year to June 2007 but down from 17.3% for the year to June 1999. The youth unemployment rate remains well above the annual average rate for all persons (3.6%).

Ethnicity

Since June 2000 the unemployment rate for Maori youth has fallen from 28.2% to 22.5% and the unemployment rate for Pacific youth has fallen from 33.5% to 20.7%. Since the same time last year, unemployment rates for Maori youth have risen slightly while those for Pacific youth have fallen. Maori and Pacific youth unemployment rates remain well above that of European youth (11.7%).