The "massive surge" NZ is experiencing in net migration is helping alleviate the country's "excess demand" for workers, BNZ economists say. "Rather than underlying demand for staff unexpectedly increasing, per se, businesses are simply being able to fill vacant positions with the inflow of migrants. Only time will tell just how big that excess demand was/is but with net migration inflows continuing to accelerate we do know the pressure to find staff is already moderating." Toplis said while recession avoidance would be a “nice” thing, how “nice” it is will depend on the relative supply and demand impulses associated with the increase in net migration. "For us, the strongest message from today’s [labour market] data, and much of the other data we are currently witnessing, is that the Reserve Bank will not be easing any time soon.

Source: New Zealand Herald May 03, 2023 21:12 UTC