Winners and losers: The largest increase in employment has been business and financial services (up 21.3% in the past year), off-set by decreases in manufacturing (down 5.9%) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (down 7.9%).

Despite the government focussing on long-term unemployed, those out-of-work for longer than six months increased by 1,600 in the year to June 97, to reach 38,000 people.

The Maori unemployment rate, at 16.6% is now almost 2½ times the rate for the general population.

Northland has sustained the biggest jobless rise of all the regions from 8.5% to 9.8% over the quarter. A large contributing factor to this rise was the recent benefit changes which are requiring more beneficiaries to enrol with the NZ Employment Service and "actively seek work"

The number of jobs advertised nationally has continued to fall, with the ad numbers down by 4.9% on a year ago, according to the ANZ Bank's monthly job ad survey.

Our Media Watch reports that despite the unemployment numbers being the highest number in nearly three years, media coverage of the jobless figures was less than usual, and was tucked away in the business sections of some of the major newspapers.

The financial markets were not happy with the unemployment statistics, mainly because the figures were not as bad as they were predicting. Financial analysts had been expecting unemployment to reach a 7% rate, and for employment levels to fall further. The stronger-than-expected jobs data has dimmed hopes in the financial sector that the Reserve Bank will ease up on monetary conditions.

BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander however is maintaining his view that unemployment will reach 7.5% by the end of this year. His reason: companies are involved in a second round of restructuring in response to the weak economy, keeping confidence and spending low.

Sources The Daily News 6 August 1997 "Maori jobless figures rise" by NZPA, and "Job data dims hope for monetary easing" by Chris Cameron-Jones; The Dominion 4 August 1997 "Data tipped to show jobless rise" by NZPA, 6 August 1997 "Jobless figures surprise" by James Weir, and "Jobless number 14,000 more than a year ago survey shows" by Helen Bain; New Zealand Herald 6 August 1997 "Jobless numbers continue to rise" by Patricia Herbert, 12 August 1997 "Job ad numbers still on decline" by NZPA; The Independent 8 August 1997 "Job figures give markets a nudge".

This change in procedure has been called "petty" and "an administrative nightmare" by Alliance employment spokesman Rod Donald, saying it will mean a huge increase in work for NZES staff. Donald: "What kind of rates will be paid to people, will there be mileage allowance for cars paid at the state sector rate?"

Sources Media releases from NZES to the Jobs Letter "Successful Community Taskforce programme to be extended", and The Dominion 30 July 1997 "Taskforce allowance decision `petty'" by NZPA

Source email to the Jobs Letter 14 August 1997

The changes address the long-criticised anomalies with the NZES register which meant that when job-seekers left the register for short periods for training, seasonal or other short-term work, they were subsequently recorded as "new" job seekers if they signed back on the register after eight weeks. The new rules will only classify the job seeker as "new" after a break of 13 weeks. Job seekers who have attended a TOP training course will be exempt from the 13-week cut-off period.

Source Media release from NZES to the Jobs Letter 20 August 1997 "More long-term unemployed to get assistance"

The change started to happen after the Education Amendment Act passed in 1990 which freed up the tertiary education sector, enabling polytechnics to offer degree courses. But now employers are asking: does moving up the qualification scale mean that polytechnics are abdicating their core function of training people ?

Source National Business Review 25 July 1997 "Skills more use than degrees" by Laurence Watt.

The Army is 895 staff short, and particularly short of armourers, electrical technicians, medical assistants, field engineers and signallers. (It is presently looking at trade structures and bonuses to stop the loss of key staff to private businesses). The Navy is short of 295 staff, and needs technical and communication trades. (It is presently coping by hiring civilians on short-term contracts). The Air Force is short of aircrew, technical, fire and communication staff.

Source New Zealand Herald 6 August 1997 "Force suffers recruiting blues in struggle to find numbers" by Sarah Catherall

Source Richard Harman TV1 Assignment 24 July 1997

Sir Ronald's Winebox Inquiry report states that NZ courts give effect to the form of, rather than the economic substance of a transaction. This means that the legal form and documentation of a transaction is more important than its substance the real monetary effect of the deal. In coming down on the "form" side of the winebox debate, Sir Ronald's "no fraud" verdict was a foregone conclusion.

"If you are a corporate and pay "tax" in the Cook Islands, receiving both an instant "tax" refund and a tax certificate in return, and then use the certificate to claim another refund in New Zealand, then you are a smart businessman to be admired ..."

Source Sunday Star-Times 17 August 1997 "Questions on who got off the hook" by Ian Wishart

The currency step is being taken in response to a changing funding environment in which local authorities are giving less financial support to community organisations. "Less money is being provided to the councils, so they in turn have less to pass on to voluntary organisations which provide essential services in rural areas" says Ruth Anderson, the Rural Forum project manager developing the currency. Anderson: "We thought we'd better develop our own money to prevent life in remoter areas being strangled by a shortage of the means of exchange."

In the Swiss system, members' firms can borrow at interest rates of under 3%. The Scottish system is, however, different in a number of ways, particularly in its methods of establishing credit lines which are by community guarantee rather than the collateral-based system which is used in Switzerland.

Contact: Ruth Anderson Rural Forum, Highland House, 46 St. Catherine's Road, Perth PH1 5RY, United Kingdom, e-mail ruth @cali.co.uk.

Source email to the Jobs Letter from Richard Douthwaite 2 August 1997

Contact: Richard Douthwaite, Cloona, Westport, Ireland, e-mail rdouth@iol.ie or in NZ contact Diedre Kent at e-mail deirdre.kent@xtra.co.nz

Source email to the Jobs Letter from Richard Douthwaite 2 August 1997

Source Gatt Watchdog open letter to District and Regional Councils, "Re: Local Authorities and the Multilateral Agreement on Investment" 14 July 1997

In the draft tender for the $1.7 billion scheme, the government is providing funding for 812,000 basic placements nearly the same as the number of Australian unemployed. But in spelling our its requirements, the documents say that its standard requirements on the private companies will be for only 50% of placements to be in full-time, permanent jobs. This in effects resigns 400,000 unemployed people to only getting help in finding part-time or casual work.

The tender outline scales down what it considers a "real job" to being only 15 hours a week. The documents say that a "success fee" will be paid to a private job placement company for finding a person work for just 15 hours over five working days. These reforms come into operation next May.

Source Sydney Morning herald 5 August 1997 "Jobless scheme ignores 400,000" by Paul Cleary

John Grieve Smith, Cambridge economist and author of Full Employment: A Pledge Betrayed, says that the "welfare to work" proposals announced by the UK government have diverted attention away from the implications of Labour's wider economic policies, which he says are more important in determining the level of unemployment. Smith: "The government says that "everyone in need of work should have the opportunity for work", but the explicit assumption about the control of inflation in the economy is that unemployment should not be allowed to fall below something like its present level for fear of the economy `overheating'. "

UK Chancellor Gordon Brown's latest Budget states that even with the most optimistic medium-term forecasts, the only reduction in British unemployment in the next few years will be a small fall in the number of long-term unemployed to the 1990 level. Smith: "The danger that unemployment will show little or no improvement is the most worrying sign that the Labour Government's achievement will be to consolidate the Thatcherite social revolution rather than reverse it..."

Source The Guardian Weekly 20 July 1997 "Jobs for the boys, but not jobs for all" by John Grieve Smith.

He points to the first act of the new Chancellor Gordon Brown being the sub-contracting out of monetary policy to the Governor of the Bank of England, an act done specifically with reference to the New Zealand model and the policies recommended by Roger Douglas. Gould: "In future the over-riding priority of policy will be monetary stability and the inflation rate, with the real economy, and minor matters like full employment and the level of public services, left to look after themselves..."

Gould writes in the NZ Political Review that it is hard to over-state both the real and symbolic importance of this step: "It represents an historic abandonment by the British Labour Party of the traditional commitment of the Left to use macro-economic policy including measures like fiscal policy, demand management, public investment and so on to achieve goals like full employment. Henceforth, the electorate will be told that they should not look to the democratically elected government to be responsible for these outcomes..."

Source NZ Political Review July/August 1997 "Spoiling the Party" by Bryan Gould

The large turn-out for the saint's day this year reflects just how desperate Argentines have become after years of record unemployment and declining salaries. Calvin Sims of the New York Times reports that President Carlos Menem's government has brought stability to an economy once plagued by runaway inflation, but his reforms (including opening markets and selling state-owned enterprises) have put millions out of work.

Source NYT News Service 8 August 1997 "Millions visit statue, pray for jobs" by Calvin Sims.