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.
"To make things worse, Manawatu-Wanganui has the lowest wages in the country. The median wage has fallen from $753 a week in 2008 to $744 last year.
"This is a result of a Government that has cold-bloodedly ignored what is happening in our regions. Investment in Manawatu-Wanganui is simply not being made."
He said in the area of roading alone, the amount of sealing has halved since National had been in power with the spend on roads falling well behind the national average.
He said Labour would "end this blight of regional neglect" by rebalancing transport funding to the region, set up a regional infrastructure fund and move more public service jobs in the region.
"Wanganui is getting it pretty hard. It's the lack of investment in infrastructure spending that's one of the problems. That sort of assistance from Government is the sort of thing that keeps regions like Wanganui going."
He said the regions provided the backbone of the country's exports and that's why it was vital for money to ensure roads were properly maintained.