Unemployment rate drops to 6.3%

There were 7000 fewer people unemployed in the December 2011 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent, from 6.6 percent, in the September quarter.

There was an increase of 3000 in the number of people employed, while the employment rate remained unchanged at 63.9 percent.

Market economists were picking 0.1 percent fall in the unemployment rate from 6.6 percent to 6.5 percent.

It has been wobbling around a flat trend line of 6.5 percent for the past two years.

Consensus forecasts have the unemployment rate falling to 5.8 percent by March next year and 5.1 percent a year later.

"We saw a steady employment rate because the increase in the number of people employed kept pace with the growing working-age population. The employment rate has not changed for three consecutive quarters,'' industry and labour statistics manager Diane Ramsay said.

Part-time employment rose 3 percent in the December quarter. In unadjusted terms, the largest annual increase in part-time employment was in the education and training industry.

In contrast, full-time employment fell 0.8 percent. "A sharp rise in male full-time employment in the September quarter exaggerated the fall in full-time employment this quarter.

Although there was a fall over the December quarter, full-time employment increased slightly over the year, Ramsay said.

These changes in full-time and part-time employment were reflected in a fall in the hours worked. Both actual hours and usual hours worked fell 1.4 percent and 0.9 percent respectively. The fall in actual hours follows a September quarter peak in actual hours that was similar to that for male full-time employment.

 

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