The recent Christchurch earthquake has led to a clear divide in the level of activity between the two main islands, according to the BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).

Acting Minister Energy and Resources, Hekia Parata, today welcomed Auckland Council's introduction of a special rates scheme to encourage people in the region to insulate their homes.

The news that 3908 Kiwis headed across the ditch in February looking for higher paying jobs is an indictment on the National Government and its utter failure to grow our economy, says Labour Leader Phil Goff.

The Prime Minister wriggled like a fish on a hook this afternoon as he desperately tried to explain why on earth his Finance Minister believes it's a good thing that Kiwi workers earn 30% less than Australians, says Labour Leader Phil Goff.

The New Zealand employment market is in surprisingly good health with listings up 25% on a year ago, according to an analysis of 33,000 jobs listed on Trade Me Jobs in the three months from January to March.

The Prime Minister has on several occasions, including TVNZ's Breakfast this morning asserted that the after-tax average wage has gone up 16 percent since October 2008 because of tax cuts, and that as a result New Zealand's after tax average wage has risen faster than Australia's.

Manurewa High School cleaners are getting a pay rise today because the minimum wage has gone to $13 an hour. But the cleaners say this is not enough to live on with the cost of living rising higher than the 25 cents an hour they will gain.

Pay negotiations get underway today (Thurs 31 March) for thousands of school support staff just as a report highlights the huge level of pay inequity they face.

Almost 60% of the workforce either hate their jobs or have a ho-hum attitude while the rest really love their work or gain satisfaction from it, according to the first wave of the Leadership Management Australasia's L.E.A.D. (Leadership Employment & Direction) Survey for 2011.

Economic forecasters believe the past year was weaker than previously thought, and the recovery has been delayed due mainly to the second Canterbury earthquake, according to the latest NZIER Consensus Forecasts Survey.

Kiwis want flexibility in their working hours far more than Friday night drinks, according to the latest Watercooler poll on seek.co.nz. An overwhelming 61% of respondents listed flexible working hours as their favourite non-monetary job perk.

Labour productivity grew 3.7 percent in the March 2010 year, Statistics New Zealand said today. New figures from the information release Productivity Statistics: 1978-2010 show that the weaker labour market has boosted productivity.

Staff at Australia's premier science and research organisation, the CSIRO, will commence stop work industrial action this week to resolve a dispute over pay and conditions.

Construction industry sector hiring set to buoy the rest of the employment market New Zealand employers have taken a step back in hiring intentions after a series of hits to national confidence, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

Thousands of school support staff will be attending paid union meetings over the next two weeks to consider a pay claim aimed at delivering a fair deal for the work they do.

Unemployment would have peaked at well over 7 percent without the Government's multi-billion investment in big construction projects, Finance Minister Bill English says.

An Australian job expo in Auckland where more than 6000 people lined up to find out about work across the Tasman shows National's economic management has failed, Labour leader Phil Goff says.

Business NZ has lashed out at Labour's consideration of industry standards for collective contracts.

The Government is going to tackle New Zealand's "bloated and inefficient" public service, Prime Minister John Key said today as he signalled more mergers and job cuts during 2011.

Wellington, Feb 8 NZPA - The public sector's already snug belt will be further tightened this year as Prime Minister John Key pledges further job cuts and mergers.

Wellington, Feb 8 NZPA - Employment website Seek last month recorded its highest level of new job adverts for two years. Job adverts in January were at their highest level since December 2008, Seek said today.

Wellington, Feb 8 NZPA - The lowest-income earners will pocket $240 more a week than being on the dole following the 25 cents an hour minimum wage increase.

Wellington, Feb 8 NZPA - A chorus of complaint greeted the Government's decision yesterday to raise the minimum wage by 25 cents an hour. Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson announced the rate would increase from $12.75 to $13 an hour from April 1.

Wellington, Feb 7 NZPA - The minimum wage is going up by 25 cents an hour, but critics say the rise is "pathetic and insulting".

Wellington, Feb 4 NZPA - A flow of job seekers across the Tasman to Australia is limiting the economic impact of new migrants to this country.

Wellington, Feb 3 NZPA - The latest rise in unemployment has given Labour leader Phil Goff more ammunition to fire at the Government and he says jobless figures will be one of the defining issues of the election campaign.

Wellington, Feb 3 NZPA - New figures confirm jobs were hard to come by in the second half of 2010, but economists are more upbeat for this year.

Auckland, Feb 3 NZPA - Prime Minister John Key says New Zealanders shouldn't lose confidence in the job market despite an increase in the unemployment rate in the December quarter.

Wellington, Feb 3 NZPA - The unemployment rate rose to 6.8 percent in the December quarter from 6.4 percent in the three months to September, as the number of people in work fell and the number unemployed rose.

Wellington, Feb 1 NZPA - A lack of job growth in the December quarter is pointing to a worsening unemployment rate.