Time to Upskill as Jobless Tally Dips

With the unemployment rate the lowest it's been for almost 20 years, it is now time to focus on improving the quality of the workforce by upskilling and investment in training, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.Unemployment has dropped to 3.6 per cent ? the lowest in the OECD and the lowest recorded since the Household Labour Force Survey began in 1986.

"The focus now needs to be on improving workplace productivity and developing a high skill, high value economy which is sustainable in the face of growing competition from overseas," Ross Wilson said.

Unions were also calling for wage increases to reflect economic growth and skill shortages as New Zealand was still in danger of losing workers to Australia where wages were on average 25 per cent higher.

There were still 76,000 unemployed and 92,600 underemployed ? that is, part-time workers who wanted more hours.

"There needs to be investment to upskill many of these workers to help them become employable," Ross Wilson said.