New Zealand's unemployment rate reaches 3.4 pct
New Zealand's unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in the December 2022 quarter, compared with 3.3 percent last quarter, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Wednesday (Feb. 1).
The unemployment rate, as measured by the Household Labor Force Survey, has remained at or near historic lows since the September 2021 quarter, Stats NZ's work and wellbeing statistics senior manager Becky Collett said.
According to the survey, in the year to the December 2022 quarter, all salary and wage rates increased by 4.1 percent, compared with 3.7 percent in the year to the September 2022 quarter. This is the largest annual increase since the survey series began in 1992.
This is a very positive outcome as growing global pressures weigh on New Zealand this year, with more people in work and rising wages the best response to help New Zealanders deal with cost-of-living pressures, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.
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