Total Employees in the Labour Force

IBISWorld forecasts the number of people working to decrease by 0.3% in 2024-25, to 2.93 million employees. The unemployment rate has been increasing over 2024-25, sitting at 4.8% as of Q3 2024-25. This is the highest unemployment has been since pandemic-driven levels reached in December 2020. The growth rate of New Zealand’s labour force has also slowed in 2024-25, as migrant visa requirements have been tightened, reducing net migration over the year. This lower-than-normal growth in the labour force combined with a growing unemployment rate is set to influence a slight decline in total employment in 2024-25.

In general, growth in the number of total employees is closely correlated with overall population growth. In particular, positive net migration supports employment, as new residents tend to boost consumer demand for products and services in the economy, subsequently helping to create labour demand. Net migration was negative across 2020-21, causing employment growth to slow dramatically. However, net migration returned to positive territory in the second half of 2022-23 and reached record levels during 2023-24, aligning with strong growth in total employment across this period.