Articles

After a tough couple of years, there are early signs that the downturn in construction employment might be moderating.

Conditions in the labour market have deteriorated over the past 18-24 months, as the unemployment rate has risen from 4.0% in December 2023 to 5.1% just a year later. The unemployment rate has continued to rise in 2025, reaching 5.3% in the September quarter, up from 5.2% in June.

The effect of AI on the labour market and broader economy is highly uncertain, but research is beginning to emerge that looks at the exposure of tasks within occupations to generative AI automation or augmentation.

Falling interest rates and limited growth in labour costs continued to keep overall transport costs in check in the September quarter.

Infometrics was proud to sponsor the recent Economic Development New Zealand (EDNZ) 2025 Annual Conference, with a focus on “Local Strength, Global Reach”. As part of the conference, we shared an economic update and some analysis of key trends that the Infometrics team has noticed emerging as influential focus areas for economic development over the last year.

The mix of light passenger vehicles that make up New Zealand’s fleet has been changing in many ways over the past two decades.

The housing market has attracted plenty of attention in recent months. Housing Minister Chris Bishop’s desire for falling house prices was at odds with the Prime Minister’s hope for “modest, consistent” increases in house prices, with the latter seemingly buying into the view that the economy will struggle to grow if the housing market is stagnant.

Stats NZ released their latest subnational population estimates this week, providing us with an annual reading of how population growth has affected each corner of the country. In this article, we explore the high-level themes for population growth in 2025, before diving into specific cities or districts to illustrate the trends we’re seeing.

Energy is fundamental to economic growth and living standards. Here we look at how well New Zealand’s energy sector has been able to balance security, equity and sustainability, and the challenges it will face balancing them in the future.

New Zealand is an increasingly multicultural society. Here we look at the different ways that ethnic communities contribute to our economy.