Functional Labour Markets Revealed by Travel to Work data 1991 and 2001

Regional labour market analysis is ideally based on functional rather than administrative areas. Travel-to-work data obtained from the 1991 and 2001 Census are used to define a set of functional labour markets for New Zealand. Comparison of the labour market catchments in 1991 and 2001 is undertaken to test the effectiveness of the statistical procedures and to examine the extent to which travel to work patterns have changed. The labour catchments are compiled from data amalgamated to Census area units. For the 2001 labour catchments, boundaries are calculated using both 1991 and 2001 area units. Maintaining constant spatial unit boundaries for 1991 and 2001 provides a test of the algorithm used to compile catchments. The 2001 catchments based on 2001 area units provides a basis for examining changes in travel to work patterns 1991-2001. A reduction in the number of labour market catchments from 140 to 106 or 104 occurs, depending on the area units used, but changes tend to preserve the broad structure of catchment boundaries identified in 1991.The overall stability in the identified catchments suggests that they provide a robust basis for regional analysis. Interpretation of the reduction in the number of areas is difficult because of data deficiencies associated with the 2001 Census. Allowing for the reduced reliability of the 2001 Census it appears that catchment boundaries are responding to expected changes in commuting patterns.