Labour's economic development spokesman says Government neglect of the Manawatu-Wanganui region is a "tragic indictment".
David Clark said the region leads the jobless stakes in a survey of New Zealand's regions, with unemployment doubling since National came to power.
"Regional neglect by the Government has meant that just to get the rate of unemployment back down to the level National inherited would mean that 6000 more jobs will have to be found.
"This is a tragic indictment of a Government that has let jobs leak away in the thousands. Now one in eight manufacturing jobs have disappeared from the region and the unemployment rate is 7 per cent well above the national average of 5.9 per cent," he said.
Mr Clark said the ANZ Regional Trends data released this week showed business confidence had fallen 14 per cent in the last year and consumer confidence was down 8 per cent.