employment by industry - change since march quarter 2020 preliminary research also indicates that downturns in employment last a lot longer than downturns in output. even if economic activity picks up over 2021, unemployment will remain 19 monetary policy statement november 2020 page 11 of 17 elevated for quite some time. 20 and certain demographic and ethnic groups are more likely to experience the lingering negative effects of the current recession than others. this effect occurs due to location, skills training, experience in the labour market, and broader roles in society such as caring for dependents. for example, we already observe that : the pandemic shock has disproportionately affected the service sector in many economies, with new zealand as no exception. it is the service sector that employs most youth. younger workers are also likely to have lower wages and less savings ( figure 13 ). 21 and their labour market separation rates ( redundancy or leaving the workforce ) are considerably higher than those of older people. 22 23 there is a greater impact on female than male unemployment during economic downturns ( figure 14 ). 24 and, maori and pasifika are much more negatively exposed to labour market fluctuations than europeans ( figure 15 ). 25 26 figure 13 : covid - 19 employment impact by age ( change march quarter 2020 to september quarter 2020 ) figure 14 : covid - 19 employment impact by sex ( change march quarter 2020 to september quarter 2020 ) 20 covid - 19 and the labour market : what can history tell us, markham, s., ozbilgin, m., robinson, f. rbnz discussion paper, 2020 ( forthcoming ) 21 monetary policy statement november 2020 22 the job - separation rate is the probability of an employed person losing their job in a given quarter. these rates have been adjusted to account for flows in and out of the labour force. 23 industry, age and unemployment risk during a pandemic recession, graham, j., ozbilgin, m., rbnz discussion paper, 2020 ( forthcoming ) 24 monetary policy statement november 2020 25 covid - 19 and the labour market : what can history tell us, markham, s., ozbilgin, m., robinson, f. rbnz discussion paper, 2020 ( forthcoming ) 26 maori and pasifika bear a disproportionate impact of labour market fluctuations relative to their population share. source : rbnz estimates based on ministry of social development ( msd ) and stats nz data. population shares

leading to increased housing activity and house prices. we will respond to the letter with careful consideration, outlining the trade - offs that exist and what we can do to assist. the monetary policy committee takes asset prices ( household wealth ) into consideration when assessing its policy decisions. the ‘ consumption ’ of housing is also captured in the 32 economic welfare and a dual mandate for monetary policy in a small open economy, jacob, p., ozbilgin, m., 2020 ( work in progress ) 33 philip bunn, andrew g haldane & alice pugh, “ has monetary policy made you happier? ”, staff working paper no. 880 ( july 2020 ). 34 hon. grant robertson, letter to rbnz governor, 24 november 2020 https : / / www. beehive. govt. nz / sites / default / files / 2020 - 11 / letter % 20to % 20rbnz % 20governor. pdf page 14 of 17 consumer price index, including rents, rates, construction costs, and housing transaction costs. 35 and, we acknowledge that lower real interest rates make residential mortgages more affordable, tempting increased housing purchases and building. however, there are many other factors impacting on house prices outside of the monetary policy committee ’ s influence. a historic undersupply of housing and restrictions on land supply are two widely acknowledged issues. more recently, with the impact of covid - 19, employment prospects have also tended to remain more positive for the traditional homeowning age group, compared to youth. and, kiwis who were living overseas returned home in the early stages of the covid - 19 pandemic, and fewer have left since, hence more housing demand. 36 access to affordable housing is an important issue for new zealand ’ s economic wellbeing, and we are pleased to be requested to assist the government ’ s thinking on this issue. distributional impact of monetary policy the impact of monetary policy decisions on wealth and income equality is another important topic for considering overall economic wellbeing. as janet yellen recently noted, despite the fact that the tools of monetary policy are generally not well - suited to achieve distributional objectives, it is nevertheless important that policymakers understand and monitor the effects of macroeconomic developments on different groups within society. 37 here at the bank we have undertaken an assessment of the international literature on the distributional impacts of monetary policy on wealth and income. our work highlights that it is unclear whether looser monetary conditions