5000 job losses predicted
A Covid-19 recovery taskforce is in the works for the Southland District Council as the district faces a forecast of 5000 job losses relating to the pandemic.
A report, to be discussed at council’s community and strategy committee meeting today, shows Southland’s unemployment rate could be 9.5 per cent by March 2021.
The 9.5 per cent was lower than the forecasted national unemployment rate of 9.8 per cent.
The data, collated by Wellington based economic consultant Infometrics, says that 5000 jobs could be lost in Southland during the economic downturn related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘‘Infometrics has stated that Southland District is well placed heading into this pandemic, as it has gone into the crisis with good
GDP [gross domestic product] momentum,’’ the report says.
‘‘It is predicted that the strong primary base will help drive the district’s resiliency to this crisis.’’
However, Infometrics predict Southland’s gross domestic product would take a significant drop of 7.2 per cent in the year to March 2021.
New Zealand’s GDP was expected to drop 8 per cent in the same timeframe.
A separate report to be discussed at the meeting seeks councillor’s endorsement to establish a Southland District Covid-19 Community Recovery Taskforce.
The report, by community partnership leader Kelly Tagg, says the point of the taskforce was to understand the economic, social, cultural and environmental effects of the virus at a community level.
The taskforce would feed ideas and suggestions for aiding and assisting recovery in communities by directly reporting to the community and strategy committee, Tagg says.
The first meeting was expected to be held in July and the frequency and format of meetings for a 12-month term would be decided then, Tagg says.
Tagg says work already under way included Future Rakiura looking at setting up a restart group for Stewart Island and deputy mayor Ebel Kremer working to establish an ideas forum to look at how to generate tourism income and employment in Fiordland.