3. Question No. 3—FinanceHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 3—Finance3. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: Is a strong employment market an important part of ensuring the well-being of New Zealanders; if so can he confirm that job growth was negative in the first three months of this year?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): A strong employment market is an important part of ensuring the well-being of New Zealanders. In that light I welcome today the announcement from the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Council of the Aotearoa New Zealand skills pledge which commits signatories to doubling investment in reskilling and training hours by 2025. In terms of the second part of the question the member knows that there are a number of ways that job growth is reported. Of the main ones used in yesterday's household labour force survey (HLFS) and quarterly employment survey some are up and some are down for the first three months of this year. But as I was told regularly by the member's predecessor one shouldn't focus so much on quarterly movements. So I'm pleased to remind the House that the HLFS shows annual employment growth of 38000 from the March 2018 quarter.Hon Amy Adams: Well if he's so adamant that the employment data that came out yesterday was positive then why according to the Financial Times did the New Zealand dollar drop so sharply following negative job growth in the first three months of the year?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I've learnt over a long period of time not to speculate on movements in the New Zealand dollar and the reasons for them. What I do know is that in yesterday's announcements we saw the unemployment rate fall to 4.2 percent wages grow 3.4 percent over the year the underutilisation rate fall to 11.3 percent and the NEET rate fall. So there's plenty of good news in there if the member chose to focus on that.Hon Amy Adams: Does he seriously think the labour market is strong when ASB said that yesterday's data showed weak employment" readings Westpac said "job growth has slowed" and ANZ said "momentum in the labour market appears to have slowed consistent with softer GDP"?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: We can have a battle of the banks if we like. I can quote a bit of Westpac to the member but I'll quote ANZ who said—and I could have used this as an answer to the first part of the primary question—"The labour market is currently in good shape." I encourage the member to accentuate the positive.Hon Amy Adams: Well if as he said he's not interested in using quarterly data will he take any responsibility for the fact that over the period he has been the Minister of Finance New Zealand's working-age population has outgrown the number of new jobs by 44000 jobs meaning there are now fewer jobs for more people?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member is now moving around various parts of the data set which makes the very point I was making in my first answer to her question which is that there are 38000 more people in work according to the HLFS seasonally adjusted definition—that being a growth of 1.5 percent since March 2018.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Minister of Finance if he has seen any forecasts suggesting that in the longer term from 2019 the growth rate for New Zealand will be superior to that of any other OECD country?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I have in fact seen forecasts of that—in fact from the IMF and the World Bank just last week where they said that New Zealand's growth while it will be slower than it has been in the past will still be in excess of advanced economies and many of our trading partners.Hon Amy Adams: Is he aware that under the last two years of the previous Government there were 57000 more jobs created than working-age population growth but under this Government the economy is consistently failing to create enough jobs to keep up with population growth?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I note the graph the member was holding—if she just flicked it up the other way that would be the polls.Hon Amy Adams: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Which part of that was in answer to or even an address of the question?SPEAKER: I think probably none of it.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I don't have that data in front of me but if the member wants to put that down as a question I'll happily answer it for her.Hon Amy Adams: Will he accept that the HLFS data shows that the economy he inherited was creating significantly more jobs and population growth but his legacy is becoming fewer jobs for more people?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No I don't accept the premise of that member's question. We've got 38000 more people in work since March 2018. What the member is doing is trying to say that no conditions in the economy ever change. We've just had the question from the Deputy Prime Minister where we've heard that New Zealand's economy is forecast to grow faster than other economies but overall the global economy is slowing. So for the member to compare those two periods isn't accurate. What I do know is that in the last year 38000 more people are in work and that is a good thing."