By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand’s jobless rate rose to 5.2% in the second quarter from 5.1%, while employment fell 0.1% from the previous quarter, official data showed on Wednesday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast an unemployment rate of 5.3% and for employment to fall 0.1%. The central bank had expected the unemployment rate to be 5.2%.
The participation rate was 70.5% in the second quarter. It was slightly lower than a forecast 70.7% participation rate.
“Labour market conditions have changed considerably in the last few years. Since the June 2022 quarter, the unemployment rate has risen by 1.9 percentage points,” Statistics New Zealand labour market spokesperson Jason Attewell said.
“The underutilisation rate has risen by 3.5 percentage points over the same period,” he added.
Wage growth increased in the quarter with the private sector labour cost index excluding overtime recording a 0.6% lift on the quarter, compared with a 0.4% increase in the prior quarter. It was in line with the forecast 0.6% increase for the quarter.
Data showed second quarter seasonally adjusted private sector wages increased 2.2% from the previous year.
Ongoing weakness in New Zealand’s labour market will further firm the case for the central bank to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points when it meets in August.
The central bank has cut the cash rate by 225 basis points since August 2024 but paused last month to assess the impact of trade ructions and a slight increase in inflation.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Chris Reese)
Comments