[n] The Government is to hold a summit on employment in Auckland next month, which Prime Minister John Key says it will include unions and business groups.
Mr Key will return to Parliament for a special meeting with senior Cabinet Ministers on Thursday to discuss the impact of the global economic crisis.
Labour leader Phil Goff earlier called for a summit of business and community interests instead of a small meeting of Cabinet members.
Mr Key says the Government has been working on the idea of an employment summit for a few weeks.
He says it will be chaired by a representative from the private sector and will include unions and business groups.
Mr Key says he does not want the summit to be a talkfest.
He says 2009 will be very challenging, and the Government plans a string of initiatives to provide confidence and support to businesses.
The announcement comes as an international survey suggests New Zealanders are less pessimistic than other countries in their views of unemployment.
Research conducted by two international research houses in 46 countries asked what people expected on unemployment this year.
As part of that, 1,050 New Zealand men and women were interviewed by telephone in November.
The survey found that 74% believe unemployment will rise, though 79% believed their job would be safe. In addition, 55% thought that if they did lose their job, they could find another one quickly.
In the United States, only 26% of those surveyed believed they could find a new job quickly.
Call to act
ACT finance spokesman Sir Roger Douglas says New Zealand will slide further into recession if the Government does not develop a comprehensive plan to tackle key economic problems.
Sir Roger says the country's lack of productivity is proving extremely costly, and notes that labour productivity has been particularly appalling in the past eight or nine years.
He says the Government needs to slash inefficient spending, cut taxes and remove regulatory blockages that delay the start of big projects.
But Sir Douglas says he does not see many of those suggestions being considered by the Government at the moment.
Building consents down
Building consents for new dwellings in November were at their lowest level in 17 years, official figures show.
According to Statistics New Zealand, 1,168 dwellings were authorised during November, a drop of 4% on the same period in 2007 and the lowest monthly total since January 1992.
ASB economist Jane Turner says overall consents are down almost 50% on levels a year ago.
Ms Turner says falling house prices, rising unemployment and stricter deposit requirements are putting people off making big investment decisions.
