Only Charts

Edition #21

1. Payroll jobs rose modestly in New Zealand in December and rose at an annualised rate of 1.9% in Q4 2023…below growth in the working age population

2. The freight cost to import goods into New Zealand has stabilised in recent months above pre-COVID levels (as a share of the total cost of goods imports)

3. …and that’s before the recent increase in some shipping cost indicators

4. To date, however, shipping costs from China to Australia/NZ don’t appear to have been directly affected (source: MacroMicro)

5. Scheduled repayments (principal + interest) on outstanding housing loans in New Zealand reached nearly 18% of total household disposable income in Q4 2023

6. The value of new housing loan commitments in New Zealand continued to roll over in December

7. But the number of kiwi housing loan commitments ticked up…