AUCKLAND (NZ Punjabi News Service): With the wage subsidies having been closed, people’s confidence in the labour market has been shaken, reveals a survey, and Aucklanders are the most pessimistic among the Kiwis.
The survey by Westpac McDermott-Miller Employment Confidence index for September quarter remained at 87.4, which is lowest in past 16 years.
The survey showed that more are working reduced hours or are looking for work. More people believe that believing it will get harder to find a job.
Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens talking to Radio New Zealand (RNZ) said the situation would worsen for many with the end of support schemes.
"New Zealanders remain worried about the state of the labour market, with jobs hard to come by and earnings growth still weak."
The survey found that 10.9 percent of respondents were looking for work in September, an increase of 2.6 percentage points since the June survey.
"The increase was greater for women and for those on low incomes. Workers who were on reduced hours in June were twice as likely to have lost their jobs since then."
According to Stephens jobless rate is expected to rise to 6.5 percent in September from 4 percent in June, although it was unlikely to reach the high levels that had originally been forecast at the start of the pandemic.
"The wage subsidy certainly did what was intended at the time, avoiding forced layoffs or business closures during the COVID -19 lockdown ... but in some cases it will have only delayed the hard decisions."
Wage growth had been minimal during the period and fewer expected to get higher wages in the year ahead.
He said people were not as pessimistic about holding on to their jobs as they had been although that might reflect "survivor bias" with those who have kept their jobs through the pandemic lockdowns may be feeling less vulnerable than they did before.
Auckland remained the most pessimistic region, with Northland the least downbeat region. Currently, there are no wage subsidies to apply for except for those who have to remain quarantined to contain pandemic after September 28.
The eight-week wage subsidy extension payment was available after the original wage subsidy scheme closed in June 2020. Applications for extension closed on September 1, 2020.
Those who were financially impacted by the resurgence of COVID-19 and changes to the Covid alert levels could access the two-week resurgence wage subsidy payment. Applications for the resurgence subsidy closed on 3 September 2020.