22 Feb 2013

Data reveals drop in manufacturing, building jobs

8:45 am on 22 February 2013

New figures reveal a big drop in the number of people employed in the manufacturing and construction sectors over the past five years.

Statistics New Zealand on Thursday has released its overview for 2012.

It shows the number of people working in construction fell by nearly 23,000, from 194,200 in 2007 to 171,300 last year.

In manufacturing, the number employed dropped by nearly 18,000, from 264,300 to 246,500.

However there was an increase of almost 68,000 working in personal and community services from 492,200 in 2007 to 560,100 last year.