The number of full-time equivalent employees (FTEs), filled jobs and seasonally-adjusted total paid hours all fell in the year to September, as measured by the quarterly employment survey.
Government statistician Geoff Bascand said it was the fourth consecutive quarter in which all three labour market measures fell on an annual basis.
In the year to September, employment as measured by the number of FTEs fell 3.5% and filled jobs fell by 2.6%. The manufacturing industry was the main contributor to both those annual decreases.
Seasonally-adjusted gross earnings increased 1.6% for the year to September, while seasonally-adjusted total paid hours fell 3% for the same period, Mr Bascand said.
Despite a fall in paid hours, total gross earnings increased over the year, leading to a 4.9% increase in the average total hourly earnings in the year to September.
The labour cost index, also released yesterday, showed that salary and wage rates, including overtime, were 2.1% higher in the September 2009 quarter than in the previous corresponding period, following a 2.8% increase in the June quarter.
"The latest annual increase is the lowest since the December 2002 quarter," he said.
In the September quarter, salary and wage rates, including overtime, increased 0.5%, following a 0.3% increase in the June quarter.
Salary and wage rates for the private sector increased 2% in the year to September and 0.4% in the three months ended September.
Public sector salary and wage rates rose 2.9% in the year to September and 1.1% in the quarter, Mr Bascand said.
New Zealand's unemployment figures are due to be released tomorrow, and economists are picking unemployment to rise to 6.3%, perhaps peaking at 7% later in the year.
However, in the United States, unemployment could reach 10% when figures are released on Friday.
US President Barack Obama yesterday sought to set expectations for the US, saying job losses would likely roll on "for weeks and months to come" because hiring always lagged behind in an economic rebound.
"We just are not where we need to be yet," Mr Obama said, as he met a panel of economic advisers. "We've got a long way to go", Reuters reported.
Unemployment in the US hit a 26-year high of 9.8% in September. Still, the economy is growing again. Reports out yesterday showed an improvement in manufacturing, construction and contracts to buy homes.
Mr Obama said that building a sustainable economy and getting people back to work remained his "Administration's overriding focus".
The President helped push through a $US787 billion ($NZ1078 billion) economic stimulus package earlier this year, and he said the Administration, Congress and the private sector must take more bold steps to help.
Mr Obama added that the US must break out of a "debilitating gridlock on trade policy", by ending the false choice between a wide-open, freewheeling import policy or fearful, protectionist approach to trade.
He also called for a more balanced policy of letting the world know America would compete and trade fairly.
