Census data shows the West Coast region has the highest rate of Maori in work, with 66.1% employed.
By contrast, Northland has the lowest employment rate, of 48.8% of Maori in a job.
Throughout the country, Statistics New Zealand has recorded a steep increase in those who are unemployed from 27,876 to 41,295.
Nationally, figures show labouring is the leading type of work done by Maori. Nearly 20% are labourers, a figure which has dropped 21.2% since the last Census count in 2006.
But there are increases in the proportion of Maori professionals and managers, up 14% and 11.6% respectively.
Maori employment in the health and social services sector has gone up 8.5%.
