Methods of seeking employment for unemployed people in New Zealand
2023 Census, % of unemployed people
The following information applies to all values in the table.
Census Year: 2023, Subject population: Unemployed census usually resident population, Age group: 15-*, Unit: Percentage of total stated
Job search method
% of unemployed people
Looked at Job Advertisements
78.27835077292%
Wrote, Phoned or Applied in Person to an Employer
52.41115800514%
Contacted Work and Income to Look for a Job
25.74732162925%
Contacted Friends or Relatives for Help in Finding a Job
52.44612042055%
Contacted Career Advisers or Vocational Guidance Officers
Use an alternative source for this data if possible, or be very careful using the data. This data was rated poor quality by Stats NZ. Look for other datasets to use instead, or to help check your assumptions if possible. Otherwise, read the warnings and response rate metadata below before using.
Stats NZ gives data an overall rating based on sources and coverage, consistency, and data quality.
Why am I seeing this?
This data is from the Census. The past two censuses had relatively low response rates, particularly for some areas of New Zealand and groups of people.
Where information was missing or unreadable, Stats NZ attempted to use data from a range of places such as previous censuses or administrative data that is collected by other government agencies. If that isn't available, Stats NZ use statistical models to predict what the missing data would have been. This is called imputation.
Things to be aware of
IF you are comparing this data with the one collected by the Household Labour Force Survey, please bear in mind the following:
- The Household Labour Force Survey measures a subset of the population and uses different methods and timing than the Census.
- Census does not ask people who are not employed whether they have a job due to start in the next four weeks. If a person was available for work but was not actively seeking work (for example, they had a job due to start in the next four weeks), they would be classified as ‘not in the labour force’. In the Household Labour Force Survey, if a person has a job starting in the next four weeks and was available for work, they would be classified as ‘unemployed’.
Job search methods (total responses) captures all the ways in which people who were not working and were seeking paid employment, looked for paid work in the four weeks prior to the census.
Response rates and final data sources
The response rate from 2023 Census forms was 73%. The remaining 27% of responses were imputed.
Definitions
Census usually resident population count of New Zealand: a count of all people who usually live in and were present in New Zealand on census night. It excludes overseas visitors and New Zealand residents who are temporarily overseas.
Census night population count of New Zealand: a count of all people present in New Zealand on census night. This includes visitors from overseas who are counted on census night but excludes residents who are temporarily overseas on census night.
Dwelling: A dwelling is any building or structure that is used, or intended to be used, for human habitation. There can be more than one dwelling within a building. For example, each apartment in an apartment building is a dwelling.
Household: either one person who usually resides alone, or two or more people who usually reside together and share facilities in a private dwelling. Included are people who were absent on census night but usually live in a particular dwelling and are members of that household, as long as they were reported as being absent on the dwelling form or the household set-up form.
Response 'stated': Members of the subject population (eg. people or dwelling) for which the data was obtained through a census form, administrative sources, or imputed.
Data calculation/treatment
This data has been randomly rounded to protect confidentiality. Figure.NZ calculated percentages based on the 'Total stated' values for each variable. Individual percentages may not sum to 100% and values for the same data may vary in different tables.
Geographically the census includes the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands, plus largely uninhabited islands including the Kermadec Islands, Three Kings Islands, Mayor Island, Motiti Island, White Island, Moutohora Island, Bounty Islands, Snares Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Island.
The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings is the official count of how many people and dwellings there are in New Zealand. It provides a snapshot of our society at a point in time and helps to tell the story of its social and economic change. The 2023 Census, held on Tuesday 7 March, was the 35th New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings. The first official census was run in 1851, and since 1877 there has been a census every five years, with only four exceptions.
Purpose of collection
Census information is used by government agencies, local authorities, businesses, community organisations, and the public for developing and implementing new policies, research, planning, and decision-making. It helps with making decisions about how to best use public funding, especially in areas of health, education, housing, and transport.
The census is also the primary source of information used for deciding the number of general and Māori electorates, along with data from the corresponding Māori Electoral Option.