New Zealand’s jobless rate rises to 4.6% in second quarter
NEW Zealand’s jobless rate increased in the second quarter, reducing capacity pressure in the labour market, but quarterly wage inflation accelerated slightly, official data showed on Wednesday.
The jobless rate rose to 4.6 per cent in the second quarter, from an upwardly revised 4.4 per cent in the previous three months, while employment increased 0.4 per cent versus the prior quarter, according to the data released by Statistics New Zealand.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 4.7 per cent unemployment rate and a 0.2 per cent contraction in employment.
“Unemployment has been increasing since 2022, leaving the current quarter’s unemployment rate the highest since March 2021,” Statistics New Zealand labour market manager Deb Brunning said.
“Recent rises in unemployment align with other economic indicators, including an increasing number of benefit recipients, a decreasing number of job vacancies, and declining GDP (gross domestic product) per capita,” Brunning added.
The New Zealand dollar was up slightly and was fetching US$0.5977 following the data as the employment numbers were slightly better than the market had expected.
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The data also showed wage growth increased in the quarter with the private sector labour cost index (LCI) excluding overtime recording a 0.9 per cent lift on the quarter, compared with a 0.8 per cent increase in the prior quarter. It was stronger than economists’ forecast of a 0.8 per cent increase.
Statistics New Zealand said the labour force participation rate was at 71.7 per cent.
An easing in tight labour market conditions will be good news for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ).
In July, the central bank kept its cash interest rate at 5.5 per cent and indicated monetary policy could become less restrictive over time should inflation slow as it expects. REUTERS
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