Labour market statistics provide a comprehensive picture of the New Zealand labour market.

The Labour Market Statistics quarterly information release provides New Zealand's official employment and unemployment statistics and wage and salary information. They contain information previously published in the Household Labour Force Survey, Quarterly Employment Survey, and Labour Cost Index (Salary and Wage Rates) releases.

The Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) provides a picture of New Zealand's labour force – these statistics relate to employment, unemployment, and people not in the labour force.

The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) estimates the demand for labour by New Zealand businesses – the levels and changes in jobs, total weekly gross earnings, total weekly paid hours, average hourly and average weekly earnings, and average weekly paid hours in the industries we survey.

The Labour Cost Index (LCI) measures changes in salary and wage rates for a fixed quantity and quality of labour input. It is a measure of wage inflation, reflecting changes in the rates that employers pay to have the same job done to the same standard.

The Labour Market Statistics (Income) annual release produces a comprehensive range of income statistics.

The Income module of the HLFS is conducted every June quarter. Income statistics allows analysis of the links between labour force status, educational achievement and the income of individuals and households, both at an aggregate level and for sub-populations of interest.

The purpose of Labour Market Statistics is to provide New Zealand's official statistics on:

• the number of people employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force
• actual and usual hours worked
• the numbers of people in occupations and industries
• the number of filled jobs and full-time equivalent jobs
• total average weekly and average hourly earnings
• total and average weekly paid hours
• movements in base salary and ordinary time wage rates, and overtime wage rates
• mean and median income from self-employment, wages and salaries, and government transfers