Dunedin's unemployment rate remains persistently above the national average, but there are hopes major building projects like the new Dunedin Hospital may help bring it down.
The rate fell slightly from 6.6% a year ago to 6% to June this year, a new quarterly report to the Dunedin City Council from economics consultancy Infometrics says.
That compares with a national average of 4.1%.
That statistic appears despite a 2.3% growth in economic activity, just below the national average of 2.5%, a 2.7% growth in consumer spending and population growth of 4.2%.
The report will be discussed today at a council economic development committee.
Council economic development agency Enterprise Dunedin director John Christie said unemployment was concerning, but there was hope for the future.
"It is concerning at 6%, and we are digging into those numbers a little bit just to see if there are any things that are abnormal.''
There had been significant job losses in the last couple of years
Mondelez-owned Cadbury pulled out of its Dunedin plant last year, with the loss of more
than 350 jobs.
Mr Christie said in some sectors workers were finding it more difficult to retrain and find new work.
More jobs were being created, but it appeared those jobs were being taken by new arrivals in the city.
However, there was a substantial amount of work from the construction boom coming from the likes of the new Dunedin Hospital and continuing University of Otago projects.
But there was a period before that when employers were yet to hire for the work.
It would also take time for people to retrain.
Mr Christie said if the drop in the percentage of unemployed continued, that would be "a really good trend''.
The report also noted commercial vehicle registrations, which it said indicated confidence to invest and expand capacity, were down 6.1% after growing strongly 2017.
Mr Christie said he was not concerned about figures from one quarterly report.
"If it showed a trend line over time I certainly would be.''
It was something to keep an eye on, rather than worrying at this stage, he said.
