What the NZ Media and Government aren't telling you about the job market and economy for the average Jo

Remember the time when the New Zealand Government was trying to get people to stop moving to Australia?  And remember the time when there were around 30,000 people moving to Australia for a better life every year?  Remember when the NZ dollar was only buying 78 Australian cents?  And do you remember when there was the mining boom?

Times have changed and now it appears the tables have turned, or that's what the media and NZ Government will have you believe.  The NZ Government frequently says it's the rock star economy and the Australian media is lapping up these stories.

There is however the truth which is being ignored, and the NZ economy isn't actually doing that well. Sure the NZ dollar may be strong, but lets look at things shall we?  At the end of the day the NZ dollar started going up and then people started speculating and we all know that in economics basic supply and demand rules, so the greater the demand the greater the price?  Based on this economic theory it means that only the currency speculators are winning but the average Jo isn't.

There is no doubt that Australia once had a mining boom and that boom isn't as great as it was but it doesn't mean the NZ economy is stronger.  Sure the price of Iron Ore may have gone down because of lower demand, but overall the Australian economy is still stronger than the NZ economy.  To give you some recent news, it was reported in The Australian newspaper and the NZ Herald that Australians are moving to NZ.  What jobs did these people have though?  Well my friends you guessed correct.  They work in viticulture and agriculture, and where do they live?  Again you guessed right.  They don't work in the city.  They work in the rural areas.

Who went over to Australia for the mining boom?  It was blue collar workers, the types who didn't have qualifications and wouldn't get a job in the New Zealand economy.  Now that mining work has dried up they have nowhere to go, other than back to New Zealand.  It's a different story for those who work in the city and have university, or actually any qualifications though.  They can still find jobs in Australia.  The jobs are still plentiful.

I decided to investigate further. 

In New Zealand, with a population of 4.5 million people there are 17,000 jobs advertised.  In Melbourne that is 28,000 and in Sydney that is 40,000.  Now tell me who has the strongest economy?  Sure, economies of scale come into this but the reality is that the Australian economy is still booming for city workers.  City workers and those with qualifications will always be better off in Australia.  It's the unskilled workers that may have problems, and the NZ Government is ignoring these.

Sure there is the Christchurch rebuild where people can go, but it's a broken glass economy.  What that means is that once Christchurch is rebuilt the jobs will go, what do these unskilled people do then?  They go onto welfare is what.

The NZ dollar is doing very well but ultimately that will hurt farmers and those relying on exporting their goods and services.  It isn't reflective of what's actually happening out there in the market and the fact of the matter is the NZ job market is nowhere near as prosperous as the Australian job market.  Australia still has more jobs per capita.