New Zealand: Unemployment Rate Rises to 5.7 Percent in September Quarter, Highest Since 2015, With 174,000 Jobless and Long-Term Share at a 1994 Peak
New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent in the September quarter from 5.6 percent in the June quarter, the highest level since September 2015 and above the 5.5 percent forecast by economists and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, official figures from Statistics New Zealand released on November 4 showed. The number of unemployed people reached 174,000, up 3,000 on the quarter and 14,000 on a year earlier.
Employment fell 0.1 percent over the quarter, against market expectations of a 0.4 percent gain. The participation rate slipped to 70.4 percent from 70.6 percent, the employment rate fell to 66.4 percent from 66.7 percent, and the broader underutilisation rate was unchanged at 13.8 percent. Full-time employment declined and total actual hours worked fell, while the share of the unemployed who have been out of work for a year or more rose to about 21.5 percent, the highest since the middle of 1994. The labour cost index rose 2.1 percent over the year, below consumer price inflation of 3.7 percent. Regionally, Northland had the highest unemployment rate at 8.3 percent, while Auckland, Waikato and Manawatu-Whanganui were all above 6 percent.
The release arrives with the country's election approaching, and the labour market has become a central economic talking point as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon seeks another term. The weaker data saw the New Zealand dollar dip before returning to trade largely unchanged at US$0.5592, while two-year swap rates fell 6 basis points to 3.7815 percent.
Source: 新西兰统计局
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：新西兰惠灵顿兰姆顿码头街景（资料图），Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 2.0 授权 / Photo: Lambton Quay in Wellington, New Zealand (file photo), by Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
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