While the decline was welcomed by the Minister for Social Development, Employment and Youth Affairs, Paula Bennett, the Council for Trade Unions (CTU) highlighted the 155,000 currently unemployed compared with 90,000 unemployed three years ago.
Statistics New Zealand data released yesterday showed employment rose for both males and females during the quarter, with the rise in employment "primarily due to a rise in the number of people working part-time", government statistician Geoff Bascand said in a statement yesterday.
"On an annual basis, employment has grown by 39,000 with equal growth in male and female employment. Contributing to this was an increase in the number of self-employed people during the year," Mr Bascand said.
Ms Bennett said New Zealanders were feeling "more optimistic about the future" in the wake of "the long haul of the recession".
The number of people in work for the period rose by 30,000 to 2,214,000, and while "encouraging", it was a "modest recovery".
She also cautioned that future unemployment data had yet to take into consideration the full effects of the Christchurch earthquake in February.
CTU secretary Peter Conway said the jobless number, which includes those discouraged from looking for work, was 271,400, and although part-time employment had increased, 103,600 part-timers were still seeking additional hours to make ends meet.
"These figures send a message to the Government that it simply has to do more to support the unemployed," he said in a statement yesterday.
ASB economist Jane Turner said during the second half of 2010, employers were "very cautious" about hiring new staff, opting instead to increase the workload of existing staff.
For the latest quarter, however, "it appears firms are finally confident enough to increase staff levels, by adding to part-time staff".
"When the impact of the February earthquake is captured in the survey over the next quarter, we anticipate a fall in employment and a further decline in hours worked," Ms Turner said.
Mr Bascand said the February quake put a stop to interviewing, which meant changes in the labour force status in Canterbury were not observed within the quarterly report.
