Central Otago is down but not out due to the recession, and is well placed to rise above most parts of New Zealand in terms of economic recovery, Mayor
He told about 30 people in Alexandra last night at his annual "state of the district" address that in the past year the district's major industries and total revenue had shrunk slightly, but not to the point where the district was in trouble.
In the decade to 2008, Central Otago had gone from strength to strength, and despite the recent dip was faring better than most other parts of the country, he said.
"There are people rehiring and the overall message is that we experienced a downturn in the past year, but by no means was it a crash. We haven't gone off the scale as most of New Zealand has," he said.
Dr Macpherson said in the 10 years to 2008 there were 3730 new jobs created in Central Otago, and in the year to date there were 460 new jobs in the district. That put Central Otago in second place in New Zealand for job growth.
"Everywhere else in the country has had a loss in job growth apart from Invercargill and Waitaki. The Otago stadium is saving our bacon because the people working on it aren't competing for jobs in Central Otago," he said.
The function was hosted by the Otago Chamber of Commerce.
