And the good news for the lower South Island was the start of the tourism season should see unemployment numbers reduce.
Statistics New Zealand released its September quarter Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) figures and its Labour Cost Index wages data yesterday. The September regional numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
Canterbury has an unemployment rate of 3.9%, up from the 3.3% from June, and a participation rate of 72%.
Otago has an unemployment rate of 4.2%, unchanged since June, and a participation rate of 69.1%. Southland had a slight increase to record an unemployment rate of 5.6%, up from 5.5%, and a participation rate of 69.7%.
Otago-Southland Employers' Association chief executive John Scandrett said in an interview he tied the Statistics New Zealand figures back to the results from the BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance in Manufacturing and Services indices in which Otago-Southland had led the country in activity.
''What this means is we are seeing stability in our manufacturing and service sectors and that is underpinning the stability of the labour market.''
However, there were two areas of concern, he said.
First, there needed to be a recognition of Central Otago and the Queenstown ''subsidising'' the weighting of coastal Otago's unemployment figures.
Secondly, there were still 1300 people aged between 18 and 24 who were registered as unemployed. That high number was concerning many people, including him, Mr Scandrett said.
Elsewhere, continuing worker accommodation problems were being reported from the Wakatipu Basin. But the rising number of tourists should keep unemployment low.
In Southland, unemployment was moving up from the traditional 3.9%-4% range as the dairy industry's problems started to bite, he said.
Nationally, unemployment rose to 6% - right in the middle of forecasts provided earlier in the week by economists. The unemployment rate would have been higher if it was not for a fall in the participation rate.
Wage inflation for the September quarter was weak and expected to remain so. The Reserve Bank should cut the official cash rate (OCR) again, economists said.
Labour finance spokesman Grant Robertson said New Zealand was bucking the trend of other countries where joblessness had been falling.
''Today's figures are a damning indictment of National. For the first time since 2012, the number of people in work has fallen - by 11,000.''
A rate of 6% put New Zealand close to Australia, an economy supposedly in crisis, he said.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce said the HLFS reflected the softening of the economy in the first half of the year.
Job growth moderated to 34,000 over the past year. Faster job growth in the North Island was offset by a drop in the South Island, which had reduced from record highs.''
Commenting on the wage data, Mr Joyce said wages had continued to grow, up 3.1% for the year compared with inflation in the same period of 0.4%. The average annual wage was now more than $57,300, up more than $10,000 since 2008.
Outcomes for young people were positive. The number of 15 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training was down to 11%, the lowest in seven years.
The figure for the 15 to 19-year-olds had fallen to the lowest level recorded and was mainly due to more young people moving into education, he said.
