0 The good news is happening here too

We've just got back from a quick trip to the supermarket. But the front page of this morning's Wanganui Chronicle caught our eye so much that we actually bought a copy!

The banner headline that took our attention read like this; Jobs surge thanks to building boom. And the story that accompanied it reads like this:

Job listings in Wanganui are up more than 25 per cent, with growth in the building sector, agriculture, healthcare and transport leading the way.
The TradeMe employment survey for the past three months saw Wanganui vacancies jump 27 per cent to 223, compared with the same period last year. The survey said the trades and healthcare were driving a large part of the region's growth.
Graeme Musson, branch manager at Allied Workforce Labour in Wanganui, said the development of several large buildings and retail centres had helped fuel the jobs' boost.
"There's a lot of positivity in Wanganui at the moment. I've haven't seen this number of cranes along the skyline in a long time."
One building under construction is the Victoria retail centre, including Farmers, which will boast seven specialty shops in the front. A retail development in Bulls has seen a new BP service station open with a Four Square due soon.

"The money's always been there but the confidence has always lacked," Mr Musson said.
"These are buildings being built by owners who live out of town and are investing here."
While the developments ensured a higher number of construction jobs, the retail sector would also benefit from more opportunities once the centres were up and running, he said.

This is fantastic news for the city of Wanganui and for the wider region. The Farmers development between Victoria Avenue and St Hill Street will turn an area that has been a wasteland and an eyesore for several years into a vibrant shopping precinct.

Further up Victoria Avenue the AA has just moved in to brand new premises, and a block further up there's a major development being built for Briscoes and Rebel Sports. And we heard whispers yesterday of a significant development in one of Wanganui's largest export businesses which is also going to have positive spin-offs for the company's suppliers and contractors.

As we have mentioned before, friends own a business which supplies to the building trade. This year has been their busiest ever, by some margin. Residential construction is also booming, as well as the commercial side of the industry.

After a number of years of lagging behind our Manawatu and Taranaki neighbours, the Wanganui region and the city itself deserve good news. The best news they could get on September 20th is to have a National-led government returned to office, and Chester Borrows elected for a fourth term as MP for Whanganui.

0 More good news on jobs

There's more good news on the jobs front this morning; the Dom-Post reports:

The number of jobs advertised online is growing across most industry groups and occupations, government figures show.
The latest Jobs Online report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said skilled vacancies rose by 2.5 per cent in June, while all vacancies increased by 1.7 per cent compared with the month before.
Over the past year, skilled vacancies advertised online increased by 16.5 per cent, while all vacancies increased by 17.2 per cent, MBIE said.
The biggest increases in skilled vacancies in June were in the construction and engineering industries, up 7.4 per cent, and the hospitality and tourism sector, up 1.4 per cent.
Over the year to June, vacancies in these industries have increased by 40.2 per cent and 27.6 per cent respectively.
The only industry to show a decrease in advertised jobs in June was the healthcare and medical sector, with vacancies down 0.4 per cent compared with the month before.
Skilled vacancies increased across all occupation groups in June, with the strongest increase shown for managers, up 2.4 per cent, and professionals, up 2.3 per cent.
The report showed the number of skilled vacancies increased in all regions in June as well over the year.
The biggest monthly regional increase was in the Auckland region, up 2.9 per cent, followed by the South Island (excluding Canterbury), which was up 1.8 per cent.
Over the year, the biggest increase was in the South Island (excluding Canterbury), up 26.1 per cent, followed by Auckland and Canterbury, which were up by 17.5 per cent and 14.6 per cent respectively. 

These are impressive figures, and confirm the finding of the Household Labour Force Survey for the March quarter which showed the Labour Force Participation Rate at its highest ever level.

The next HLFS is due out in early August, and there is likely to be a further fall in unemployment. That is further evidence that the economy is growing, employers are hiring, and that Bill English's conservative financial stewardship has steered New Zealand in the right direction. It's little wonder then that around two thirds of those surveyed in the two most recent polls are optimistic about New Zealand's future.

0 Unrelenting good news

The tide of good economic news is unrelenting. This morning, there's good news about New Zealand's service sector; NBR reports:

New Zealand services sector activity, which accounts for about two thirds of the economy, rebounded in March to reach 2007 levels, after a drop off in February.
The BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of services index rose to a seasonally adjusted 58.3 in March, from February's 53.1 and up from 55.2 a year earlier. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Last month the PSI snapped nine consecutive months of growth in expansion as new orders had the biggest drop since the survey began in 2007.

This is excellent news. And as the commentary continues, it is clear that this expansion is broad-based, across a range of sectors; read on:

"The expansion is not only deepening but widening too with growth being experienced across a number of sectors including construction, agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and retail," Doug Steel, Bank of New Zealand economist, said in a note. "While the very fast pace of service sector growth in March might partly be a bit of catch up from the moderate pace in February, the overarching point is that trend growth in the service sector is currently strong."
All five sub-indexes which make up the PSI were in expansion in March, led by new orders/business with a reading of 62.1, followed by activity/sales with a reading of 60.7. Stock/Inventories rose 6.5 points to 55.3. Employment rose 0.8 points to 54.3 and supplier deliveries advanced 5.3 points to a 55.5 reading.
"Buoyant new orders are positive for the future," Steel said. "This will be on factor giving firms in the service sector confidence and encouraging them to take on more staff."
The seasonally adjusted BNZ-Business NZ performance of composite index, which combines the PSI with the performance of manufacturing index and represents more than three quarters of the economy, increased 3.4 points from a year earlier to 58.3 on a GDP-weighted index, and 4.2 point to 58.2 on a free-weighted index.
Across New Zealand all regions were above 50, with Northern up 1.7 points to 59.4, Central falling 0.5 points to 59.2. Otago/Southland rose 5.4 points to 59.4 and Canterbury/Westland rebounded to 58.5 from 43.4.

Once again, the underlying message from this report is that employers are feeling far more confident about economic conditions going forward, and are looking to hire new staff. Jobs will be the key to the economic recovery, and there have been plenty of signs in recent months that the job market has taken off.

Labour and the Greens of course will talk this down; that's their job. But New Zealand's economic recovery is well underway, and it is genuine, as surveys such as  the PSI and its companion the PMI (which shows 19 consecutive months of expansion) demonstrate. No amount of "woe is us" talk from Labour and the Greens can change that.