WELLINGTON, Nov 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – New Zealand’s unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in the Sept, 2022 quarter, unchanged from last quarter, the country’s statistics department, Stats NZ said, today.
While the unemployment rate remained level, the underutilisation rate, a broader measure of spare labour capacity, dipped slightly to nine percent, from 9.2 percent last quarter.
“Unemployment and underutilisation rates have been sitting at or near record lows for more than a year,” said work and wellbeing statistics senior manager, Becky Collett.
The labour force participation rate rose to 71.7 percent and the employment rate rose to 69.3 percent. Both are the highest rates recorded since the Household Labour Force Survey began in 1986, Collett said.
In the Sept, 2022 quarter, the labour force participation rate for women rose to 67.4 percent, the highest rate since the series began, he said, adding that, women’s labour force participation rate was much lower than men’s in the 1980s, but has grown faster over the last 30 years.
The average hourly wage rose 7.4 percent to 37.86 NZ dollars (22.21 U.S. dollars), outpacing inflation at 7.2 percent, Collett said.
