Wellington: New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.4 per cent in the December 2025 quarter, the highest since the September 2015 quarter when it was 5.7 per cent, Stats NZ reported Wednesday.
The unemployment rate of 5.4 per cent was up from 5.3 per cent in the previous quarter, said the statistics department, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The number of unemployed people rose by 5,000 to 165,000 over the quarter, while both employment and participation in the labour market increased, Stats NZ said. The labour force participation rate rose to 70.5 per cent, with 19,000 more people active in the job market over the quarter, it said.
"We saw higher levels of engagement in the labour market as both employment and unemployment increased," said Stats NZ macroeconomic spokesperson Jason Attewell.
About 20,000 more women joined the labour force, with 16,000 gaining employment compared with the previous quarter, statistics showed.
Female employment rose particularly in managerial and professional roles, while clerical and administrative positions declined, Stats NZ said.
Overall, the employment rate stood at 66.7 per cent, the underutilization rate at 13 per cent, annual wage inflation at 2 per cent, and average hourly earnings at 43.99 New Zealand dollars (26.59 U.S. dollars) in the December 2025 quarter, it said. (IANS)
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