Christchurch- women's jobs disappear

Thursday 22nd December 2011 1 Comment

Job losses in Canterbury bars, hotels, and shops have hit women and young people hard, with female employment in retail and accommodation dropping by 32.6 percent in the year to Sept. 30, according to an Employment Opportunities in Canterbury report, released yesterday.

The Department of Labour and the Canterbury Development Corp report was commissioned to identify demand for construction industry labour. It found female employment in the region fell by 19,100 (12.2%), compared with a drop for men of 7,700 (4.3%) for the year to Sept. 30.

The retail and accommodation sectors drove female job losses, with a 32.6% drop in women working in those sectors, while damage to childcare facilities is likely to be limiting the availability of women to work, says the report.

Employment for people aged 15 to 24 fell 22%, or 11,100 workers, while the 25-54 “prime working age” group dropped by 9%, or 19,300 workers. Jobs for the 55+ age group increased by 3,400, or 4.8%.

The report attributed the drop for youth in Canterbury to the vulnerability of the accommodation and retail sectors, as many roles in those sectors are often held by young people.

Youth unemployment in the region fell 1,200 over the year to 6,200 unemployed, because young people had left the region, returned to studies, or left the labour force entirely.

Womens’ unemployment, however, was up from, 9,100 to 9,800 over the year, according to figures come from Statistics New Zealand’s Household Labour Force survey with a special focus on Canterbury. The number of unemployed men in Canterbury rose by 200 in the same period, to 7,800 at Sept. 30.

The report estimates an extra 23,900 construction-related workers will be required at the peak of the rebuild.However, it said this number was only an indication and would likely change as more information becomes available or as the timing of the rebuild changes.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

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