The FINANCIAL — New Zealand’s labor market worsened in the third quarter, with the unemployment rate rising and fewer people employed, according to Nasdaq.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.0% in the three months to the end of September, Statistics New Zealand’s Household Labor Force Survey showed Wednesday. The figure was in line with the median expected in a Wall Street Journal poll of nine economists and was slightly higher than the 5.9% in the prior quarter.
The participation rate was 68.6% versus 69.3% in the second quarter. Economists had expected 69.3%.
Seasonally adjusted employment fell 0.4% on the quarter versus expectations for a 0.4% rise and was up 1.5% on the year compared with expectations for a 2.5% rise. Statistics New Zealand said 11,000 fewer people were employed than in the June quarter, the first quarterly fall in employment in three years.
“Until recently, the labor market has been keeping pace with New Zealand’s population growth, but in the past three months this has changed,” labor market and households statistics manager Diane Ramsay said.
The Household Labor Force Survey has shown significant volatility in recent quarters, leading the government, market commentators and investors to also look at the Labor Cost Index Survey and the Quarterly Employment Survey when assessing the data.
The Labor Cost Index showed private-sector wages rose 0.4% on the quarter and were up 1.7% on the year.
Discussion about this post