November 07, 2014
Young Maori out of job loop
Council of Trade Unions economist Bill Rosenberg says thousands of young Maori will struggle to meet their potential because of a lack of government action on jobs and training.
The latest Statistics New Zealand labour force data shows there are still 228,000 people jobless, including 134,000 people unemployed.
Maori unemployment is 12.2 percent, no change from a year ago even though the overall unemployment rate has dropped.
Mr Rosenberg says the picture is even worse for young Maori, with 27.4 percent not in education, employment or training, which has long term consequences.
"If people can’t get a good start in life it's very hard for them to pick up afterwards and what it says is there needs to be a much greater focus on helping people get into training, helping people get into apprenticeships and jobs," he says.
Mr Rosenberg says the Government is missing the opportunity to prepare more young Maori for construction jobs in Canterbury and Auckland, which account for most of the increase in employment.
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