Unemployment figures a wake up call for John Key
New, higher than forecast, unemployment figures out today show this Government’s economic policies have failed miserably, Labour leader Phil Goff says.
“Unemployment has leapt to 7.3 per cent in the December quarter, up from 6.5 per cent. It is now at the highest level it has been in 16 years and is growing at the highest rate in a decade,” Mr Goff said.
“168,000 Kiwis are now unemployed. The total number of jobless is more than 275,000.
“This despite comments from John Key last year that he was happy with the way unemployment was tracking, and that unemployment would not go higher than 7 per cent.
“Just before Christmas he said: ‘My message to New Zealanders is I think they can feel a bit more confident as they go into Christmas that their jobs will be retained.’ He also bragged in Parliament that his forecasts were ‘spot on with Treasury’s’, which were for 7 per cent.
“While he was rejoicing, another 18,000 New Zealanders have joined the dole queue.
“This latest rise is a shocking indictment of Mr Key’s failure to look after New Zealand families. Only a year ago, he announced a Jobs Summit, which has been exposed as exactly what John Key said it wouldn’t be – a talkfest.
“The Government’s stimulus package has produced just 2300 jobs.
“That is a lot less than the 3500 people who queued for hours last month for the chance to grab just 150 jobs at a new South Auckland supermarket.
“The Jobs Summit symbolises the flashy but ineffective approach of this government. Since then, National’s policies supposedly to support Kiwis, have been little more than tinkering.
“As a result, more and more people are struggling to make ends meet, with the young, the less well off, Maori and Pacific communities and other ethnic groups especially hard hit.
“The number of hours worked has also continued to decrease, down 0.4 per cent, which indicates many more Kiwis are feeling the pinch even if they still have jobs.
“Meanwhile, in Australia, which was serious about stimulating the economy to get through the downturn, unemployment is going down. At 5.6 per cent, unemployment across the Tasman is now nearly 2 percentage points lower than ours,” Phil Goff said.
