9. Question No. 9—Social Development and EmploymentGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth) to the Minister for Social Development and EmploymentQuestion No. 9—Social Development and Employment9. GLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What recent reports if any has she seen about people entering into employment education or training?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development and Employment): Today the latest household labour force survey was released and it showed a further fall in unemployment down to 4.7 percent from 4.9 percent in the December quarter. This is in line with what we saw in the Ministry of Social Development's March quarter benefit statistics with a record number of New Zealanders coming off benefit and nearly 33000 entering paid work and it's despite the effects of COVID-19 or the COVID-19 pandemic. We are seeing a resilient labour market with record numbers of people finding work. We're also seeing more people feeling secure in their employment. These are good signs but as always we know there is more work to do.Glen Bennett: What has the Government done to keep people employed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: The Government has acted as a team across multiple fronts. We worked quickly to implement the wage subsidy support and we invested in sectors such as sport arts and conservation with recovery packages to keep Kiwis in work. On top of that we've continued to strengthen our industry partnerships to ensure that we can work with New Zealand businesses to fill any spaces where there are workforce shortages. By resetting the economic conditions keeping people in work and helping people retrain we are seeing a labour market that is performing above expectations.Glen Bennett: What is the Government doing to help people who are out of work back into work?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We have many different employment programmes that are designed to help particularly those who are disadvantaged in the labour market. The aim of these programmes is to instil skills and confidence in job seekers so they are work ready and then we match them up with the employers and the jobs that are available. As the Prime Minister said earlier we are seeing some great successes with Apprenticeship Boost Mana in Mahi He Poutama Rangatahi Māori trades training and our industry partnership programme. Our expanded Flexi-wage subsidy is also making a real difference to employers by providing them with incentives to take on staff who need a little bit more support in the workplace.Hon Louise Upston: If the unemployment rate is the same as it was in September 2017 why then in the same time period are there now 75000 more on the jobseeker benefit?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: The member knows that the household labour force survey is a survey. But what the member also knows is that since mid-January 2021 this year we've actually seen a reduction of around 30000 people on benefit—down from 390000 to 360000. I think that is very clear evidence that despite the pandemic and despite the very dim forecasts that we had in front of us we are doing pretty well.Hon Michael Wood: Is it correct that the growth in employment that she has reported to the House today has occurred at the same time as the Government's made significant increases to the minimum wage?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: That is absolutely right and despite some of the assertions in the House from the other side that lifting wages could result in a decrease in job opportunities that is certainly not what we are seeing in New Zealand at the moment.