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Nelson was on Friday basking in the glow of having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world, but employers say it highlights serious skill shortages in the region.
The latest Statistics New Zealand figures show Nelson had an unemployment rate of just 2.3 percent for the three months to June - down from 2.7 percent in March, and well below the national rate of 3.7 percent, which is the lowest in the OECD.
Statistics NZ said unemployment - which fell from 3.9 percent in March - was at the second lowest level since it began its surveys in 1986.
The Nelson-Marlborough-West Coast region shared the lowest rate with Southland.
Nelson Labour candidate Jen McCutcheon said the figure was "great news, fantastic news" for Nelson.
Ms McCutcheon acknowledged that employers were facing a shortage of skilled labour as a result of high employment, but said the problem was being partly addressed by the modern apprenticeships scheme.
She also said the benefits of low unemployment outweighed the negative impacts.
"I understand it's a concern for employers, and we always said there would be a labour shortage when they abolished the apprentice scheme. But there are a whole lot of positive spin-offs from the high employment," she said.
"It can only benefit Nelson because of the increase in the level of incomes. It's also indicative of strong growth in the economy.
"If the employers are concerned about getting skilled labour, they should look at the wages they are paying the workers."
Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency chief executive Bill Findlater said the low unemployment rates were good or bad, depending on whether you were an employer or an employee.
"When you've got a low unemployment rate, sometimes it can be hard to find people for specific positions, so it has its positives and its negatives.
"Obviously, from an employee point of view, it's pretty good because they've got jobs."
But he said that for employers, it was particularly hard to fill positions requiring certain skills.
Mr Findlater said a workforce development survey had identified key areas of concern for the region.
"To overcome the skills shortage, we've identified that there is a skills and training shortage in general in the region, and so we're addressing that at the moment with a number of industry groups that we're working with."
Fruitgrowers Federation Nelson-Marlborough director Richard Kempthorne said his industry had traditionally felt the crunch of low unemployment levels, in the form of huge labour shortages, but several industry and government initiatives had helped to ease the problem.
These included a "variation of conditions" visa scheme that allowed overseas tourists to work legally in the New Zealand fruit industry without work permits.
"They're making a huge difference," he said. "Although we do have record low unemployment, we actually had, this year, more New Zealanders interested in seasonal work."
Talley's Fisheries director Andrew Talley said he felt his company was "bucking the trend" by finding it easier to fill job vacancies than it had in the past three years.
But he said the hoki quota was lowered this year, meaning fewer employees were needed, and this could be responsible for creating a perception that vacancies were easier to fill.
The latest Statistics New Zealand figures show Nelson had an unemployment rate of just 2.3 percent for the three months to June - down from 2.7 percent in March, and well below the national rate of 3.7 percent, which is the lowest in the OECD.
Statistics NZ said unemployment - which fell from 3.9 percent in March - was at the second lowest level since it began its surveys in 1986.
The Nelson-Marlborough-West Coast region shared the lowest rate with Southland.
Nelson Labour candidate Jen McCutcheon said the figure was "great news, fantastic news" for Nelson.
Ms McCutcheon acknowledged that employers were facing a shortage of skilled labour as a result of high employment, but said the problem was being partly addressed by the modern apprenticeships scheme.
She also said the benefits of low unemployment outweighed the negative impacts.
"I understand it's a concern for employers, and we always said there would be a labour shortage when they abolished the apprentice scheme. But there are a whole lot of positive spin-offs from the high employment," she said.
"It can only benefit Nelson because of the increase in the level of incomes. It's also indicative of strong growth in the economy.
"If the employers are concerned about getting skilled labour, they should look at the wages they are paying the workers."
Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency chief executive Bill Findlater said the low unemployment rates were good or bad, depending on whether you were an employer or an employee.
"When you've got a low unemployment rate, sometimes it can be hard to find people for specific positions, so it has its positives and its negatives.
"Obviously, from an employee point of view, it's pretty good because they've got jobs."
But he said that for employers, it was particularly hard to fill positions requiring certain skills.
Mr Findlater said a workforce development survey had identified key areas of concern for the region.
"To overcome the skills shortage, we've identified that there is a skills and training shortage in general in the region, and so we're addressing that at the moment with a number of industry groups that we're working with."
Fruitgrowers Federation Nelson-Marlborough director Richard Kempthorne said his industry had traditionally felt the crunch of low unemployment levels, in the form of huge labour shortages, but several industry and government initiatives had helped to ease the problem.
These included a "variation of conditions" visa scheme that allowed overseas tourists to work legally in the New Zealand fruit industry without work permits.
"They're making a huge difference," he said. "Although we do have record low unemployment, we actually had, this year, more New Zealanders interested in seasonal work."
Talley's Fisheries director Andrew Talley said he felt his company was "bucking the trend" by finding it easier to fill job vacancies than it had in the past three years.
But he said the hoki quota was lowered this year, meaning fewer employees were needed, and this could be responsible for creating a perception that vacancies were easier to fill.
Cheers
Marc