Unemployment in NZ Vs the US

A Soft Revolution

The unemployment rate for Maori in NZ is persistently higher than for non-Maori. 

In 1986, the Māori unemployment rate was 2.57 times the Pākehā unemployment rate. According to the September 2017 Household Labour Force Survey, the Māori unemployment rate is currently 2.83 times the Pākehā unemployment rate. After 30 years of economic reform, two Labour governments, and nine years of Māori Party influence, the inequality of employment between Māori and Pākeha has gotten worse.

The unemployment rates have come down over that time, from 14.9% to 9.9% for Māori and from 5.8% to 3.5% for Pākehā. But the gap has remained. At least the situation is not getting much worse, right? Wrong. Yes, the Māori unemployment rate dipped below 10% for the first time since 2008 last quarter but the persistent gap between Māori and Pākehā means that all 30 years of economic reforms have managed to achieve is to entrench the institutional discrimination of Māori in the workforce. 34,400 Māori are unemployed. We comprise 16% of the New Zealand population but account for 27% of the number of unemployed.  [Joshua Hitchcock, The Spinoff]

When faced with such stats and trends, the reflexive response in New Zealand is to call for the state to "do something". 

In the United States, however, black employment is looking pretty good--at least so far as the trend-line indicates.  Maybe there is something that the Chattering Classes in New Zealand could learn from Donald Trump's alleged Dystopia.
 

Black unemployment fell to a record low in August, helped by a jump in the number of black women on the job.  The unemployment rate for black workers fell to 5.5% from 6%, according to the Labor Department data. The previous record low of 5.9% was set in May 2018.

The unemployment rate for black women fell to a record 4.4% from 5.2% in July. The unemployment rate for black men crept up to 5.9% from 5.8%. But the previous month's rate was a record, so the rate is still near its historic low.  Unemployment among workers who identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino also fell in August to 4.2%, which matched a record low set earlier this year.

Minority unemployment has been tracked by the Labor Department since the early 1970's. Both black and Hispanic or Latino unemployment numbers have traditionally been higher than white unemployment, and it remains so today. White unemployment was 3.4% in August, up from 3.3% previously. But this is the smallest gap on record between the respective unemployment rates for blacks and whites.  Overall the US unemployment rate stood at 3.7%, unchanged from the previous month.  [New York (CNN Business)] 

 This is about as good as it is likely to get.  Why? 

These are prosperous times in America. The country is plump with jobs. Out of every 100 people who want to work, more than 96 of them have jobs. This is what economists consider full employment.

The economy has grown for almost 10 years, making it one of the longest economic expansions in U.S. history. And over that time, the job market has come back. It grew slowly at first, then steadily, finally reaching a point at which there are many more openings than job seekers.

Unemployment has reached a nearly 50-year low. The jobless rate for Hispanics has never been lower; the past two years have been the best job market ever for African Americans. Wages are starting to rise — and, more significantly, for the lowest-paid workers. That may not endure, but it's a reversal of the long-term trend where the most highly paid workers were also the best rewarded. The job market today is so hot that groups that were sort of on the margins also are finding opportunities — including people with disabilities or a prison record.  [Pelavi Gogoi, npr]

If only New Zealand's unemployment rate was at a 50 year low!  Maybe Donald Trump is on to something.