Job confidence remains weak around the country, aside from the one bright spot of Canterbury, according to a bank survey.
The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index rose to 99.1 in the December 2012 quarter, up slightly from 98.9 in the September 2012 quarter. An index number greater than 100 indicates that optimists outnumber pessimists, and under 100 that pessimists hold sway.
"The best thing to be said about today's survey is that it could have been worse," said Westpac Senior Economist Felix Delbruck.
Figures out late last year showed official unemployment jumped 0.5 per cent to 7.3 per cent in the September quarter, with 13,000 more people unemployed in the quarter.
"We were braced for a fall, (in the index) given recent news about job cuts and high unemployment, but we got a very slight uptick." Delbruck said.
"Even so employment confidence remains at very low levels, and households' assessment of their personal job security has taken a step back," said Delbruck.
Canterbury continued to be the one bright spot in what was overall still a fairly gloomy report.
"Canterbury is now the only region where employment confidence is clearly in optimistic territory," he said.
"The accelerating post-quake rebuild is clearly boosting Cantabrians' assessment of job opportunities and their own job security. However, their earnings expectations have stayed fairly steady, suggesting that wage pressures remain low outside particular industries."
The survey was conducted over 1 - 10 December, with a sample size of 1577.
- ? Fairfax NZ News
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8175185/Canterbury-optimistic-on-jobs
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