Which sector had the most filled jobs in 2023?

The health care and social assistance industry led the number of filled jobs in New Zealand after "steadily" growing throughout 2023, according to Stats NZ.

The sector saw a 5.3% annual increase in filled jobs to reach 13,692 jobs by December 2023.

"Filled jobs in the health care industry steadily grew throughout 2023 after a relatively subdued period in the second half of 2022," said Sue Chapman, business employment insights manager, in a statement.

Coming in second is the public administration and safety sector, which was driven by the general election in October 2023. It saw an 8.5% annual increase to reach 13,128 jobs by the end of December, according to Stats NZ.

"The extra workers employed to help with the general election in October 2023 provided the biggest contribution to filled job growth in the public sector," Chapman said.

Increases, decreases in filled jobs

The sector with the third-highest filled jobs in 2023 is the accommodation and food services (7,065), followed by education and training (5,889), and then by the transport, postal, and warehousing (5,686).

The industries that posted a decrease in filled jobs include the administrative and support services (-867) and the professional, scientific, and technical services (-1,225).

Filled jobs count the number of jobs with full-time employees, part-time employees, as well as working proprietors.

Stats NZ calculates these numbers by "averaging weekly jobs paid throughout the quarter, based on tax data."

By quarter, the number of filled jobs reached 64,843 jobs in the December 2023 quarter, up 2.9% from the December 2022 quarter.

Annual gross earnings

Meanwhile, total earnings for the December 2023 year reached $171.1 billion, up from the $156.9 billion a year prior, says Stats NZ.

The top contributors to the increase include:

• Health care and social assistance (up $3.1 billion from the previous year)
• Public administration and safety (up $1.6 billion)
• Education and training (up $1.2 billion)