Lay-offs

According to Stuff some sectors are finding it tough;

Businesses might be feeling the pinch, but an unemployment rate at 3.9% is still about as good as it gets anywhere in the world.

But figures in fine print in the latest Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion tell a different story.

In manufacturing, for example, a net 25% of businesses surveyed by the Institute of Economic Research laid off staff during the three months to June.

The last time manufacturers did that was in 1997.

A net 14% of merchants - retailers and wholesalers - also laid off staff.

In both instances, the culprits were the same, said institute director Brent Layton.

Margins are being squeezed as costs soar - more than 60% of manufacturers and merchants reported increased costs, compared with 20% previously. Higher prices and a high dollar are largely to blame.

Profits are down - for 49% of merchants and 38% of manufacturers.

Businesses say they intend to raise prices to recover those squeezed margins, but markets are so competitive that few do.

Instead, workers are laid off.

On the plus side the services and building industries are holding up well.