Despite Northland posting the lowest economic confidence nationally, the region's chief business advisory body is banking on several major projects to stimulate growth.
The latest Westpac McDermott Miller Regional Economic Confidence Survey showed despite Northlanders' confidence in their economy improving slightly, it still remained the lowest in the country. The bank says high unemployment in Northland continues to impact hugely on economic growth.
The survey noted about 30 per cent more households in Northland were pessimistic about the future compared with the first quarter this year.
However, Northland was one of only two regions that saw economic confidence improve over the past three months- from -35 per cent in March to -33 per cent at the end of June. That means the percentage of pessimists fell 2 per cent.
"This may reflect some signs of life in the local economy, which is slowly recovering from the effects of past droughts and the housing bust," Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said. "But it's early days and economic confidence in the region remains low."