New Zealand Jobless Rate Climbs To 3.6% In Q2

(RTTNews) - The unemployment rate in New Zealand came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent in the second quarter of 2023, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday.

That missed forecasts for 3.5 percent and was up from 3.4 percent in the three months prior.

The underutilization rate was 9.8 percent on quarter, up from 9.1 percent, while the employment rate was 69.8 percent, compared with 69.6 percent in Q1.

On a yearly basis, all salary and wage rates including overtime increased 4.3 percent, while average weekly earnings including overtime for full-time equivalent employees increased to NZ$1,531.

The average ordinary time hourly earnings increased to NZ$39.53.