Administrative and support services are one of the few sectors gaining jobs in Hawke's Bay, Statistics New Zealand figures show.
Since 2009 nearly 4000 jobs have gone from the region.
The sector with the biggest number of employees - agriculture, forestry and fishing - has lost 1440 jobs. In 2013 it had 12,420 jobs, down from 13,860 in 2009.
Economic Solutions economist Sean Bevin said the drop in manufacturing jobs, 880, was worrying.
"If you are talking about wealth creation - making things and turning them into final products - primary production and manufacturing are key sectors," he said.
"If you add up agriculture, forestry, fishing and manufacturing for last year you get a total of about 22,000. They are our important sectors and are less than a third of the total 73,020 jobs."
Retail also took a hit in jobs lost, with 810.
"With the economic downturn people basically just zipped up their pockets."
Retailers had not replaced staff in order to make their businesses "more efficient."
The rate of construction jobs lost, 620, matched a fall in council consent figures. Emigration figures showed a lot of local tradespeople had gone overseas with their families, he said.
The latest government census showed a similar story, with the whole country affected by the economic downturn triggered by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
The administrative and support services sector in Hawke's Bay showed the greatest increase in employees, 650, but a 16 per cent increase in jobs for the sector included agencies involved with seasonal agricultural labour.
Healthcare and social assistance showed the next greatest growth in the period, up 3.8 per cent with 310 new jobs. Social assistance includes childcare services, adult daycare, aged care assistance, disability assistance, marriage guidance, soup kitchens and welfare counselling.
Hawke's Bay District Health Board director of population health, Caroline McElnay, said growth in the sector reflected growing needs in the community.
"Some of this is related to an ageing population and some will be related to increasing social issues," she said.
Susan White, CEO of economic development agency Business Hawke's Bay, said because the region was predominantly an export economy it suffered more than many other parts of New Zealand from the GFC.
"Businesses were forced to cut their cloth and the impacts from that have lingered," she said.
"I think it's generally recognised throughout the councils and those in the economic development space within the region, that employment must be, and is, a key focus area."
Multiple agencies were growing employment "from within" and there was a growing focus on business attraction.
"The Hastings District Council attracting more contact centres is a prime example."
She said the statistics did not paint the full picture "as the predominance of businesses here are small and these are not picked up in the data, yet they provide an employment opportunity for growth."