Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The labour market has remained strong, with job ads near record highs. Earlier this month, the Seek NZ Employment Report for February 2022 edged down 0.1 percent on January, but it is up 68 percent for the year. BNZ economists said that this may reflect the need for businesses to plan for staff with Omicron having to self-isolate, but the high number of ads also indicated that firms are taking a view of the labour market beyond the near-term impacts of the pandemic. One exception to the result was in hospitality and tourism, which declined 13 percent. But BNZ noted that the reopening of the borders, as announced today, and the easing of restrictions are expected to help revive the fortunes of these sectors. Overall, the BNZ said that the result signals that unemployment will stay at record low levels at the beginning of 2022.