June 2024 Quarterly Economic Monitor (QEM) has been updated

Economic crunch deepening for regional economies  

The economy is clearly weaker, with households tightening their belts as unemployment rises and job security deteriorates. Businesses are reporting lower sales and limiting further hiring. Economic sentiment remains poor, with the private sector struggling, even as population-driven growth in sectors such as health and education keeps headline numbers looking less downbeat than many are feeling. 

Regional groupings 

Today we’ve also released profiles for New Zealand broken into three groupings – Metro, Provincial, and Rural (with a hat-tip to Local Government New Zealand for these broad groupings). These three groupings make it easier to compare an area with its peers, as we know that metro, provincial, and rural areas often have a different economic structure and performance to the national average. The regional groupings are available in both the QEM and the Regional Economic Profile (REP). Click here to see how regional groupings are defined.

A reminder about our Census module 

A reminder to all our QEM clients that you have access to the new Census module in the Infometrics REP. The module enables you to explore the demographic make-up of your area. Currently there is only limited 2023 Census data in the module, but we will be adding more as Stats NZ releases more data. The next data drop from Stats NZ is set for October, and we’ll bring that data into our Census module once we’ve processed it.