Rural Areas Set For Growth as Dairy Boom Draws City Workers
NEW ZEALAND - Rural areas can expect to see a steady inflow of workers from the cities in the next two years, economists say.
10 December 2007
1 minute read
* "There's going to be a real divide between rural and urban fortunes over the next two to three years." |
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Westpac head of research Dominick Stephens
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Westpac head of research Dominick Stephens said a shift in prosperity, fuelled by the dairy boom, would entice workers from cities. "There's going to be a real divide between rural and urban fortunes over the next two to three years. We're used to urban areas out-performing rural areas, and that's going to reverse for quite some time. It could even feel like a recession in Auckland."
Stephens said while some dairying money would trickle through to urban areas, a weak housing market in Auckland in particular would take its toll on the job market. "Rural areas will be demanding a lot of labour."
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said areas such as Waikato and Southland would become more attractive as they enjoyed two or more years of prosperity. But with unemployment at its lowest point in more than 20 years, the dairy boom would not affect migration patterns the way it might have in the 1990s.
"People are not sitting around saying, 'I haven't been able to find work for a year'," said Tuffley.
"A lot will depend on people's relative job prospects."
Source: New Zealand Herald
