Unemployment rises to 4.8%

Unemployment is on the rise, with more people remaining jobless for longer periods and wage growth slowing, according to new figures released from Stats NZ.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.8 per cent in the September 2024 quarter, up from 4.6 per cent in the previous three-month period.

Deb Brunning, labour market statistics manager, notes the rate has steadily grown over the past two years from 3.2 per cent in the September 2022 quarter.

Other findings in the latest data show the employment rate in the September 2024 quarter was 67.8 per cent, annual wage inflation was 3.8 per cent and average ordinary time hourly earnings were $41.98.

The latest underutilisation rate, which takes into account the unemployed and the potential labour force, was 11.6 per cent. This was down from 11.8 per cent in the June 2024 quarter. 

Year-on-year, the actual number of unemployed people increased by 24.2 per cent to 144,900. 

This included increases in the number of people who had been unemployed for:

• three to six months – rising 47.2 per cent to 29,500

• over six months to one year – up 53.2 per cent to 32,500

• over one year – climbing 55.5 per cent to 16,900.

The seasonally adjusted employment rate fell to 67.8 per cent in the September 2024 quarter, down from 68.4 per cent in the June period and 69.3 per cent from the same spell a year ago.

The number of jobless people who had been employed in the past five years and left that role due to lay-offs, redundancies, or business closures rose 34.5 per cent annually to 55,000.

Annual wage inflation was 3.8 per cent for the year to September quarter, which compares with 4.3 per cent in the year to the June 2024 quarter.