New Zealand Jobless Rate Jumps To 5.3% In Q3

(RTTNews) - The unemployment rate in New Zealand came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.3 percent in the third quarter of 2020, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday.

That beat expectations for 5.4 percent, although it was still up sharply from 4.0 percent in the three months prior - representing the biggest quarterly increase on record.

The employment change was -0.8 percent, matching expectations following the 0.4 percent decline in the previous three months.

The participation rate was 70.1 percent, beating forecasts for 70.0 percent and up from 69.7 percent in Q2.