Employment outpacing population growth

Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce chief executive Wayne Walford said there's a need for workers with a positive attitude.

Unemployment is down in the region despite a growing workforce, the latest Statistics New Zealand labour market report shows.

The report showed an extra 4800 people picked up work in the past 12 months, a rate outpacing the extra 4600 people who joined the workforce.

The unemployment rate dropped from 6.9 per cent last September to 6.5 per cent in the most recent quarter.

Almost 103,000 people were employed in the most recent quarter, almost 9000 more people than the September 2014 quarter.

Chamber of Commerce chief executive Wayne Walford said there was a positive business mood in the Bay, with a lot more jobs and activity.

But despite this, he said there was still a need for jobseekers who were willing to learn.

"I was talking to a company the other day who are trying to employ 40 people and they've only got 10. They're looking for more, and they're employing on attitude," Mr Walford said.

"I think if people have the right attitude they'll get a job ... A lot more organisations have got the attitude now that you can teach people skills but you can't teach them that intrinsic value for working, and pride in who they are and a desire to serve."

Mr Walford said development in the tech area was likely to soak up jobs in the coming few years, as well as in the fruit sector.

Nationally, unemployment fell below 5 per cent for the first time in nearly eight years.

An extra 35,000 people were employed in the September quarter, with half of the growth occurring in Auckland, and a fifth in Otago.