Getting people out of unemployment: A spatial perspective across Auckland

Reducing the unemployment rate is an aim of most governing authorities. This paper presents a socio-economic analysis of area-level employment rate changes across Auckland using Census area-level data for the time period 1996 to 2006. Exploratory spatial data analyses suggest the presence of strong spatial patterns in intra-city employment rates changes. Application of seemingly unrelated regressions highlight forces, such as education, that are associated with increases in part time and full time employment relative to being unemployed.