Canterbury numbers show strong building activity

28 August 2012

Canterbury numbers show strong building activity: Economic news from Statistics New Zealand

Nearly a billion dollars worth of building consents was approved in Canterbury in the first half of 2012, quickly approaching the 1.2 billion consented over the whole of last year.

This analysis can be found in an article on Canterbury a year on from the February 2011 earthquake, in the just-released Economic News from Statistics New Zealand, available here.

The article also shows that overall retail activity has recovered to pre-quake levels. However, with the closure of the CBD, employment in retail, accommodation, and food services has not recovered to the levels seen before the earthquakes.

Other feature articles in Economic News include an analysis of the computer systems design (CSD) industry, showing a near doubling in its workforce in the past decade.

The industry plays an important role in creating jobs and generating export earnings for our economy. The number of employees in the CSD industry grew by 77 percent from 2000 to 2010, an average of 1,230 workers per year. This compares with total New Zealand workforce growth of 22 percent over the same period.

There is also an article exploring salary and wage rate growth over the last 10 years in terms of movements in individual pay rates, and skill level indexes. Positions requiring a bachelor degree or higher, for example, were paid more than twice as much as those requiring a basic vocational qualification or no qualification, in the March 2012 quarter.

Economic News is available at http://www.stats.govt.nz/tools_and_services/services/newsletters/economic-news/aug-12.aspx.

ENDS

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