The unemployment rate was zero in New Zealand in 1956, 1957 and 1961. Apparently no one was jobless even for a day in New Zealand when changing jobs or entering or re-entering the workforce from outside employment, from school or other educational callings or as a migrant, if the OECD data is to be believed.
Data extracted on 13 Oct 2015 00:11 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
Unemployment was 1% for the rest of the 1960s in New Zealand before skyrocketing to 2.5% in 1975. By 1983, under the best of the good old days before the scourge of neoliberalism, unemployment rate had reached 5.5% after a steady increase from more than a decade.
The less than 1% unemployment was mostly under National Party rule but this era is looked upon with great fondness by the left-wing in New Zealand. Same in Australia where the good old days are known as the Menzies era: 23 years of Conservative party rule but beloved now by the left-wing as the ideal mixed economy.
Australian unemployment rates in the late 1960s was also pretty low given the requirements of labour market churn and entry on re-entry into the labour force.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments