Tough to find jobs in region

Limited employment opportunities are causing havoc for Wanganui job hunters, with many struggling to make ends meet, a local community worker warns.

Wanganui Salvation Army corps officer Glenn Anderson said families were sleeping in cars on a beach because they couldn't find jobs or accommodation.

Even job hunters with skills were finding it tough in the current market. "Of course, for people who haven't got skills ... it's really, really difficult."

His comments follow a new Statistics New Zealand labour market report which estimated 9200 Manawatu-Wanganui residents were out of work during the three months to March.

Figures from the Household Labour Force Survey show regional unemployment stood at 7.7 per cent for the period, down from 8.5 per cent in the previous quarter, and 8.9 per cent a year ago.

Mr Anderson said some residents, who relocated to Wanganui hoping to find work, were resorting to desperate measures after failing to secure jobs.

"Probably since November, we know of three incidences where families have come down from Auckland and are sleeping in their car on the beach for three or four nights until they can get connected to a rental" or get some form of income, he said.

A breakdown of the labour force figures show a higher proportion of Manawatu-Wanganui residents were eligible for work and in jobs in the March quarter.

Of the 119,300 locals aged 15 and over eligible for work, 110,100 were employed.

In the three months to December, the Manawatu-Wanganui labour force stood at 118,700 with 108,600 people in jobs.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployment benefit claimants in Wanganui also declined in the past year. Figures from the Social Development Ministry show 1252 local residents were on the dole in March, compared with 1314 a year before.

Nationally, unemployment fell to a three-year low for the first quarter of this year, with 38,000 more people in jobs compared to the previous period. The jobless rate was 6.2 per cent.