The job market's remaining tougher, for longer, than many economists were expecting. 

Unemployment's reached a ten-year high of 5.4% in the December quarter, and the broader under-utilisation rate is close to a ten-year high as well, at 13%. 

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is trying to point out silver linings, saying the data also shows more jobs have been created, and hours worked are increasing. 

Frog Recruitment Manging Director Shannon Barlow told Kerre Woodham that it’s a little early to get a clear read on the market, but there are positive signs already. 

She says there was a lift in permanent roles and businesses who were keen to hire in December, and January has been solid as well – notable since it’s normally a dead month.  

Barlow says it gives the idea that business confidence is beginning to translate into real hiring and growth decisions.  

LISTEN ABOVE 

The job market's remaining tougher, for longer, than many economists were expecting.&nbsp;
Unemployment's reached a ten-year high of 5.4% in the December quarter, and the broader under-utilisation rate is close to a ten-year high as well, at 13%.&nbsp;
Finance Minister Nicola Willis is trying to point out silver linings, saying the data also shows more jobs have been created, and hours worked are increasing.&nbsp;
Frog Recruitment Manging Director Shannon Barlow told Kerre Woodham that it’s a little early to get a clear read on the market, but there are positive signs already.&nbsp;
She says there was a lift in permanent roles and businesses who were keen to hire in December, and January has been solid as well – notable since it’s normally a dead month. &nbsp;
Barlow says it gives the idea that business confidence is beginning to translate into real hiring and growth decisions. &nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE&nbsp;

Join Kerre Woodham one of New Zealand’s best loved personalities as she dishes up a bold, sharp and energetic show Monday to Friday 9am-12md on Newstalk ZB. News, opinion, analysis, lifestyle and entertainment – we’ve got your morning listening covered.

Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Shannon Barlow: Frog Recruitment Managing Director on the unemployment rate

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/312d4183-e5fe-4dd5-a3d3-b3e70188963e/transcript

Today, we thought we'd have a look at jury duty, given a story in the New Zealand Herald this morning. I've only been called for jury service once, a couple of years ago, before Covid, which isn't really a couple of years, is it? It's like six years ago. I was keen as mustard. Couldn't wait. 

Fortunately, I have a very supportive employer who's able to sustain me doing my jury service. So I was able to take the week off and I duly reported to the Auckland District Court on the Monday along with a million other people. So we sort of sat around for a while and then somebody with a clipboard called us all together and I was absolutely chuffed to be selected in the first pool of potential jurors, but I didn't make the final 12 We were sitting in the courtroom, but my name wasn't called. Really did feel like I'd failed an audition.

So we trooped back downstairs, those that didn't make it, and I found the person with the clipboard and said, "Look, if I do get called, can we make sure it's a short, sharp jury trial because I'm off to Europe at the end of the week?" And she said, "Oh, don't bother. It's fine. Don't bother coming back." Thanked me for my service and that was that. Couldn't have been easier.

There were a lot of people milling around waiting to do their jury service and I knew about three of them. Very convivial. I'd brought a book, but I didn't really need it. One of those who milled recently, though, a 57 year old Auckland chap, is in the Herald this morning. He said it was a terrible time. He's incredulous that we have such an inefficient, expensive way of administering justice. He added up the daily rate paid to would be jurors and the reimbursement for parking fees, and although to each individual it's a pittance, it all adds up. And he says given that it's taxpayer money, there needs to be a better way of doing things.

He didn't put this in his calculations, but could have. What about the lost productivity to companies that release their employees or for self employed people who have to give up their work to do their civic duty? Official Information Act figures from the Herald, they were supplied by the Ministry of Justice, shows that 7,138,000 was paid in fees and expenses to potential jurors who attended jury service in New Zealand in 2024 Like, it is an individual pittance, but man, he's right, it does add up. More than $7 million, and how much of that is wasted money? Help is on the way.

Acting Minister of Justice, Courts and Justice Services Policy Acting General Manager Megan Noyce said the Regulatory Systems Courts Amendment Bill includes two amendments aimed at making the jury selection process more efficient. The Justice Committee has examined it and it's recommended that it be passed. The first amendment will enable summoned jurors to attend court only when required by the court. It would allow multiple jury panels to be convened in a week, one for each trial, instead of all jurors summoned for that week attending every day.

The second amendment would allow the first part of jury selection to take place outside the court precinct, so you don't have to sit there and mill and catch up with old mates and read your book. It can be done electronically. Electronic balloting would be introduced in the future once the bill is passed and only jurors selected in the ballot would need to attend court. The remainder would only need to attend if they're selected for another trial during that week. So that bill's at the second reading stage.

Presumably, there would be no strong objections from any party to it passing. Should we take the savings we make on jury selection and pass them on to those who actually make it onto the jury? Defence lawyer John Munro told the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning that a decent fee might be a way to reinforce that it's important to do your civic duty.

Given the low figures, I'd actually like to see jury members get more money for sitting on juries because

You reckon that would fix it?

Not necessarily, not won't necessarily fix it, but I do shudder sometimes. I think it's something like $60 or $60 a day for a juror to sit on a jury and I think that's just not enough for people that are self employed. I think a lot of employers need to cover that cost and they should do so in their employment contracts.

Yeah, I mean, if you're self employed, how on earth do you justify it? How on earth can you justify doing your civic duty, which is really, really important, when it's $60 a day? You have to see it basically as a donation of your time because you're not going to see the money back. And employers take a big hit when they let their employees off. And yet it is vitally important.

You probably don't see it as vitally important when you turn up and see that kind of inefficiency. If you are somebody who's in business for yourself, that kind of inefficiency smacks you in the face, doesn't it? You look at that and think, What on earth's going on here? There's a million ways I could make this more efficient, less costly to the taxpayer, and still get the job done, and in fact possibly get the job done better." I would love to hear your experiences, especially if you have been on jury service in recent times. How would you make it better? Do the bills go far enough? Would you like to see an increase in the fee paid to those who actually make it onto juries? And when it comes to juries, do you trust them? Would you select trial by jury if you found yourself in court up on a serious charge? Do you have faith that your fellow New Zealanders would be able to reach a fair decision, would be unbiased, unprejudiced, understand the court proceedings? How much faith do you have in your fellow man?

LISTEN ABOVE

Today, we thought we'd have a look at jury duty, given a story in the New Zealand Herald this morning. I've only been called for jury service once, a couple of years ago, before Covid, which isn't really a couple of years, is it? It's like six years ago. I was keen as mustard. Couldn't wait.&nbsp;
Fortunately, I have a very supportive employer who's able to sustain me doing my jury service. So I was able to take the week off and I duly reported to the Auckland District Court on the Monday along with a million other people. So we sort of sat around for a while and then somebody with a clipboard called us all together and I was absolutely chuffed to be selected in the first pool of potential jurors, but I didn't make the final 12 We were sitting in the courtroom, but my name wasn't called. Really did feel like I'd failed an audition.
So we trooped back downstairs, those that didn't make it, and I found the person with the clipboard and said, "Look, if I do get called, can we make sure it's a short, sharp jury trial because I'm off to Europe at the end of the week?" And she said, "Oh, don't bother. It's fine. Don't bother coming back." Thanked me for my service and that was that. Couldn't have been easier.
There were a lot of people milling around waiting to do their jury service and I knew about three of them. Very convivial. I'd brought a book, but I didn't really need it. One of those who milled recently, though, a 57 year old Auckland chap, is in the Herald this morning. He said it was a terrible time. He's incredulous that we have such an inefficient, expensive way of administering justice. He added up the daily rate paid to would be jurors and the reimbursement for parking fees, and although to each individual it's a pittance, it all adds up. And he says given that it's taxpayer money, there needs to be a better way of doing things.
He didn't put this in his calculations, but could have. What about the lost productivity to companies that release their employees or for self employed people who have to give up their work to do their civic duty? Official Information Act figures from the Herald, they were supplied by the Ministry of Justice, shows that 7,138,000 was paid in fees and expenses to potential jurors who attended jury service in New Zealand in 2024 Like, it is an individual pittance, but man, he's right, it does add up. More than $7 million, and how much of that is wasted money? Help is on the way.
Acting Minister of Justice, Courts and Justice Services Policy Acting General Manager Megan Noyce said the Regulatory Systems Courts Amendment Bill includes two amendments aimed at making the jury selection process more efficient. The Justice Committee has examined it and it's recommended that it be passed. The first amendment will enable summoned jurors to attend court only when required by the court. It would allow multiple jury panels to be convened in a week, one for each trial, instead of all jurors summoned for that week attending every day.
The second amendment would allow the first part of jury selection to take place outside the court precinct, so you don't have to sit there and mill and catch up with old mates and read your book. It can be done electronically. Electronic balloting would be introduced in the future once the bill is passed and only jurors selected in the ballot would need to attend court. The remainder would only need to attend if they're selected for another trial during that week. So that bill's at the second reading stage.
Presumably, there would be no strong objections from any party to it passing. Should we take the savings we make on jury selection and pass them on to those who actually make it onto the jury? Defence lawyer John Munro told the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning that a decent fee might be a way to reinforce that it's important to do your civic duty.
Given the low figures, I'd actually like to see jury members get more money for sitting on juries because
You reckon that would fix it?
Not necessarily, not won't necessarily fix it, but I do shudder sometimes. I think it's something like $60 or $60 a day for a juror to sit on a jury and I think that's just not enough for people that are self employed. I think a lot of employers need to cover that cost and they should do so in their employment contracts.
Yeah, I mean, if you're self employed, how on earth do you justify it? How on earth can you justify doing your civic duty, which is really, really important, when it's $60 a day? You have to see it basically as a donation of your time because you're not going to see the money back. And employers take a big hit when they let their employees off. And yet it is vitally important.
You probably don't see it as vitally important when you turn up and see that kind of inefficiency. If you are somebody who's in business for yourself, that kind of inefficiency smacks you in the face, doesn't it? You look at that and think, What on earth's going on here? There's a million ways I could make this more efficient, less costly to the taxpayer, and still get the job done, and in fact possibly get the job done better." I would love to hear your experiences, especially if you have been on jury service in recent times. How would you make it better? Do the bills go far enough? Would you like to see an increase in the fee paid to those who actually make it onto juries? And when it comes to juries, do you trust them? Would you select trial by jury if you found yourself in court up on a serious charge? Do you have faith that your fellow New Zealanders would be able to reach a fair decision, would be unbiased, unprejudiced, understand the court proceedings? How much faith do you have in your fellow man?
LISTEN ABOVE

Kerre Woodham: Our jury system has an efficiency problem

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/c6375cfe-281b-465a-887c-b3eb0183b9da/transcript

In an opinion piece in Newsroom, former United Future leader and Political Commentator Peter Dunne writes about "How to stop NZ First from playing the two main parties off against each other".

Under our MMP system, NZ First often holds the "kingmaker" position, allowing them to leverage the two main parties, National and Labour, against each other during coalition negotiations.

Currently, NZ First is polling strongly (between 9% and 12%), suggesting they may again be in a pivotal position for the November 2026 election.

Former MP and Political Commentator Peter Dunne joined Kerre Woodham to discuss what NZ First's position as 'kingmaker' means for this years' election.

In an opinion piece in Newsroom, former United Future leader and Political Commentator Peter Dunne writes about "How to stop NZ First from playing the two main parties off against each other".
Under our MMP system, NZ First often holds the "kingmaker" position, allowing them to leverage the two main parties, National and Labour, against each other during coalition negotiations.
Currently, NZ First is polling strongly (between 9% and 12%), suggesting they may again be in a pivotal position for the November 2026 election.
Former MP and Political Commentator Peter Dunne joined Kerre Woodham to discuss what NZ First's position as 'kingmaker' means for this years' election.

Peter Dunne: Political commentator and former MP discusses NZ First's 'kingmaker' status

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/386fa5f4-dc05-46c6-bb1a-b3eb017e6895/transcript

Stats New Zealand released the labour market statistics yesterday while I was on air talking to my caller Troy, and the numbers were not good. 

KW: The unemployment rate is 5.4% in the December quarter, up 5.3 in September. So we'll discuss that with Liam Dann in a minute. There we go.  

T: Interesting in an election year, that will be interesting for sure. 

Interesting in an election year for sure, Troy. For a government that campaigned on fixing the economy, getting people back into work, the figures are a cold hard dose of reality. An unemployment rate of 5.4%, total unemployed 165,000 – that's 5,000 extra people without a job since the last quarter. 16,000 without a job since this time last year. The underutilisation figures made for pretty grim reading too. Underutilisation includes the unemployed, the underemployed, part time workers who are wanting more hours – they might have been looking for a full-time job, all they can get is a part time, but they'll take it while they keep looking. And the potential labour force, people who want to work but aren't actively seeking it. I don't quite understand those people, do they just expect somebody to come knocking on their door saying, you're it, you're perfect. 150,000 and a car, come on in"? I don't know how they expect to find work, but there we go. The number of underutilised people rose by 2,000 over the quarter, by roughly 52,000 to 71,000 over the past year depending on all sorts of metrics. What it does end up with is a record high of 409,000 people.  

So there's a lot of people doing it tough. The Finance Minister Nicola Willis says, just hold your nerve, we'll come right. 

“We have been waiting for an economic recovery and there is some impatience, but all of the signs are there.” 

Yes. Well, are they? To be fair, look at the alternative. If you don't like what the Coalition Government is doing, have a look at Labour, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori and think, could they do better? But that's of cold comfort to the thousands of Kiwis that have had to relocate, they've had to pivot, they've had to reevaluate to get themselves into work, to get food on the table, the rent paid, to look after the kids.  

Another caller yesterday who had rung me previously told me he'd applied for more than 200 jobs. He's bought himself a business. Others have moved themselves and their families into different regions. The figures don't show the Kiwis who moved to different countries, nearly 73,000 to Australia – imagine how grim the stats would have been otherwise. Now there are some people really who could have expected to lose their jobs. If you were one of the many, many thousands of people who took a job with the public service in Wellington in the last six months of '23, come on. When you've got Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon both saying the public service needs to be cut, if you took a job then really you couldn't have expected to keep it. It would have been luck if you did.  

But for others, the slowing down of the economy has had a dramatic effect on them. The youth, because people hold onto their jobs longer, people don't take on trainees, they don't, can't afford to take a risk with a newbie or an apprentice. The business just can't sustain that. People 50 to 60, they might have been laid off. They've got many, you know, 10, 15, 20 years left in them. Try telling that to a prospective employer. Tough. So I would love to hear from those of you who have been looking for jobs, who have found jobs, who have pivoted, like my caller yesterday who after 200 rejections thought, “you know what? I'll do it myself," and bought himself a business. Those who've gone seeking a job in another part of the country. In Canterbury the figures are better than the national average. It's a tale as we've heard before of two economies. South Island's doing fine, North Island not so much. 

Stats New Zealand released the labour market statistics yesterday while I was on air talking to my caller Troy, and the numbers were not good.&nbsp;
KW: The unemployment rate is 5.4% in the December quarter, up 5.3 in September. So we'll discuss that with Liam Dann in a minute. There we go. &nbsp;
T: Interesting in an election year, that will be interesting for sure.&nbsp;
Interesting in an election year for sure, Troy. For a government that campaigned on fixing the economy, getting people back into work, the figures are a cold hard dose of reality. An unemployment rate of 5.4%, total unemployed 165,000 – that's 5,000 extra people without a job since the last quarter. 16,000 without a job since this time last year. The underutilisation figures made for pretty grim reading too. Underutilisation includes the unemployed, the underemployed, part time workers who are wanting more hours – they might have been looking for a full-time job, all they can get is a part time, but they'll take it while they keep looking. And the potential labour force, people who want to work but aren't actively seeking it. I don't quite understand those people, do they just expect somebody to come knocking on their door saying, you're it, you're perfect. 150,000 and a car, come on in"? I don't know how they expect to find work, but there we go. The number of underutilised people rose by 2,000 over the quarter, by roughly 52,000 to 71,000 over the past year depending on all sorts of metrics. What it does end up with is a record high of 409,000 people. &nbsp;
So there's a lot of people doing it tough. The Finance Minister Nicola Willis says, just hold your nerve, we'll come right.&nbsp;
“We have been waiting for an economic recovery and there is some impatience, but all of the signs are there.”&nbsp;
Yes. Well, are they? To be fair, look at the alternative. If you don't like what the Coalition Government is doing, have a look at Labour, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori and think, could they do better? But that's of cold comfort to the thousands of Kiwis that have had to relocate, they've had to pivot, they've had to reevaluate to get themselves into work, to get food on the table, the rent paid, to look after the kids. &nbsp;
Another caller yesterday who had rung me previously told me he'd applied for more than 200 jobs. He's bought himself a business. Others have moved themselves and their families into different regions. The figures don't show the Kiwis who moved to different countries, nearly 73,000 to Australia – imagine how grim the stats would have been otherwise. Now there are some people really who could have expected to lose their jobs. If you were one of the many, many thousands of people who took a job with the public service in Wellington in the last six months of '23, come on. When you've got Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon both saying the public service needs to be cut, if you took a job then really you couldn't have expected to keep it. It would have been luck if you did. &nbsp;
But for others, the slowing down of the economy has had a dramatic effect on them. The youth, because people hold onto their jobs longer, people don't take on trainees, they don't, can't afford to take a risk with a newbie or an apprentice. The business just can't sustain that. People 50 to 60, they might have been laid off. They've got many, you know, 10, 15, 20 years left in them. Try telling that to a prospective employer. Tough. So I would love to hear from those of you who have been looking for jobs, who have found jobs, who have pivoted, like my caller yesterday who after 200 rejections thought, “you know what? I'll do it myself," and bought himself a business. Those who've gone seeking a job in another part of the country. In Canterbury the figures are better than the national average. It's a tale as we've heard before of two economies. South Island's doing fine, North Island not so much.&nbsp;

Kerre Woodham: The unemployment figures make for grim reading

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/74ec5d59-5364-4a99-810a-b3e7018b6d9f/transcript

Shannon Barlow: Frog Recruitment Managing Director on the unemployment rate

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