Economic Bulletin June July 2025
We have two feature articles in this edition. In the first, Morgan James-Tresidder, the new pay equity lead at the NZCTU, sets out why pay equity is such a critical tool for advancing working women’s interests, and outlines how unions are fighting back against the government’s retrograde changes to the pay equity legislation earlier this year.
In the second article, we examine the Infrastructure Commission’s draft National Infrastructure Plan, which was released in June. The draft plan sets out the Commission’s recommendations for how we can sustainably fund infrastructure in the context of our large infrastructure deficit and an ageing population. One thing we are concerned about here is the Commission’s proposal to transition to a fully user-pays system for “network infrastructure” such as roads, rail, telecommunications, and energy. User-pays models tend to be regressive (the poor have to pay proportionally more than the rich), and risk turning public infrastructure into a market service that is dependant on one’s ability to pay.
In our regular updates, we cover the quarterly data releases on GDP growth and the balance of payments. We also provide the regular monthly analysis of migration, performance indexes, employment, consumer, and business confidence, and the government accounts.
We’ve also expanded the “key data for trade unionists” section, adding a table that summarises the current state of the jobs market, and how key indicators compare to the same time one year ago and the five year average.
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https://union.org.nz/economic-bulletin-june-july-2025/