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National | Employment

Statistics show lowest unemployment rate since 2009

Statistics New Zealand shows the unemployment rate has fallen from 6% to 5.3% in the December quarter. This is the lowest unemployment rate since March 2009.

There were 16,000 less people unemployed than in the September 2015 quarter.

Unemployment fell for both men and women over the latest quarter, with the unemployment rate for men falling 0.5 percentage points (to 5.0 percent). The rate for women fell 0.8 percentage points (to 5.7 percent).

Although unemployment rates are lower, there are also less people participating in the labour market. As a result, labour force participation fell for the third quarter in a row.

Over the December quarter, employment grew 0.9 percent, after falling in the previous quarter. This has resulted in annual employment growth of 1.3 percent.

Diane Ramsay of Statistics New Zealand says, “Employment has been especially strong for 20- to 29-year-olds, with 26,800 more people employed in this age group over the year. There were also just over 23,000 more people employed in Auckland over the year. The largest rise in employment was within Auckland’s construction industry.”