Small business job growth remains strong, sales show modest improvement

For the March quarter, Hawke's Bay (+9.9%) and Northland (+7.8% y/y) led jobs growth - both regions were severely impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle in early 2023, which has likely boosted these year-on-year results. Manawatu-Whanganui (+5.8% y/y) had the smallest rise, but still well above the long-term average job growth.