Call for government to help Auckland as unemployment rises

Auckland’s Business Chamber boss is calling on the government do more to stimulate the economy in the supercity, and the country, as jobless figures rise.

The latest Stats NZ data shows Auckland’s 6.1 percent unemployment rate for the June 2025 quarter is the worst of all regions.

It is also above the national unemployment rate which rose to a near-five year high of 5.2 percent as businesses either sack staff or stop hiring.

“It’s pretty grim … it’s very very tough in Auckland,” Chamber chief executive Simon Bridges told Morning Report.

There was a real case for serious policy or fiscal stimulus around New Zealand, and particularly in the big cities, in order to “get things going”.

“I think we need to raise the animal spirits, if you like, of the business community.”

Bridges said a boost in confidence in Auckland was needed at both business and consumer levels.

Things were tough in the city which hadn’t caught a break since before the Covid-19 pandemic started, he said.

“There is more stimulus, there is more policy work that government could be doing to provide a better business environment in Auckland in the here and now,” he said.

“I think [the government has] done some worthy long term things, but in the end if all we worry about is the long term, I’m not sure there’ll be that many Kiwis left in Auckland,” he said.

“It’s now that they need to be focused on.”

Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) head of advocacy Alan McDonald said while the agriculture industry was bolstering employment elsewhere, Auckland had different economic drivers.

“Numbers from the Auckland Council Economic Unit indicated unemployment would be quite high [in the June quarter] and it has been for some time.

“There are some signs of recovery but they’re being led by the regional economy and primary sector and Auckland is more about manufacturing and services.

“Hospitality, tourism, education sectors have all been down as well.”

McDonald said EMA had received a spike in calls to its advice line about redundancies and restructures since March.

“We had hoped 5.1 [in December 2024] might be the bottom of Auckland’s unemployment numbers, but we’ve been hearing from March until now that things are still very tight and very tough.” But things were starting to turn he said.

The Stats NZ quarterly labour market figures released on Wednesday also showed unemployment was [https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/569214/unemployment-rate-for-pacific-people-more-than-double-national-average more than double the national rate at 12.1 percent.

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