Economic » Prosperous Community

All members of our community prosper from a strong and growing economy. A thriving business sector attracts and retains a skilled and productive workforce.

What is Prosperous Community?

A prosperous community is one in which there is a job market in which employment is growing, unemployment is low, incomes are relatively high and evenly distributed and people are well-educated. Having a decent income is a crucial element contributing to quality of life because most basic needs such as food, water, shelter, health care and many forms of recreation have to be purchased. The valuable services resulting from unpaid household and community work also contribute directly to our well-being and prosperity.

The prosperous community outcome is made up of eight indicators that were selected to measure progress towards the outcome definition (shown above). Please see below for the data relating to each of the prosperous community indicators.

City Circular

Prosperous community GPI, 2001-2017

What this means

The prosperous community index of the WR-GPI rose steadily between 2003 and 2008. However, the economic impacts associated with the fall-out from the global financial crisis (GFC) created a sharp reversal of the positive trend at 2008, and the index was negatively affected for the following four years with signs of recovery evident in 2013. A net change for this index between 2001 and 2017 of 13%. 

Did you know?

Natural disasters (and the cost of cleaning up after them) actually create an increase in GDP, thus counting natural disasters as a benefit to our economy. From a GPI perspective, natural disasters would be a decline in our well-being

8 Indicators are being used to track Prosperous Community in the Wellington region

Click on each indicator below to access further information


Download Territorial Authority data for these Indicators


Unemployment rate

Why is this indicator important?

Unemployment represents an underutilisation of labour resources, and has the potential to constrain growth and restrict prosperity. At an individual and family level, unemployment is associated with financial insecurity, stress, poor health outcomes, and a wide range of social problems. These issues can worsen if a person remains unemployed for a sustained period.

Unemployment rate, 2001-2017

Findings

  • In 2017, the unemployment rate in the Wellington region was 5.1%.
  • The unemployment rate in the Wellington region increased from 2001 to 2003, and then generally decreased to its lowest level over the 2001-2017 period in 2008.
  • Similar changes in the unemployment rate have been observed for New Zealand which had highest rate in 2010 & 2013 of 6.2%. The Wellington region peaked in 2013 at 6.4% and has had lower rates in unemployment for the last four years.
  • The unemployment rate for NZ is currently 5.0%.

Unemployment rate

Definition and data details

 

Indicator definition

The number of unemployed peple expressed as a percentage of the labour force. 

Data source

Statistics New Zealand: Household Labour Force Survey

Last updated April 2018

Indicators are updated in April and November each year; for those indicators where new data or survey results have become available.

While care has been taken in processing, analysing and extracting information, we cannot guarantee that the information is free from error and we shall not be liable for any loss suffered through the use, directly or indirectly, of any information, product or service.