Jobless rate rises as New Zealand economy grows
Xinhua, Wellington :
New Zealand’s unemployment rate edged back up to 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, although the number of people in work also rose, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.
The jobless rate was up from 5.4 percent in the previous quarter, but still down from 6 percent in the December 2013 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate reached a record 69.7 percent, up from 69 percent the previous quarter and 68.8 percent in the December 2013 quarter.
“Employment didn’t keep up with the record number of people entering the labor force, so even though employment growth was also strong over the quarter, the unemployment rate increased,” labor market and households statistics manager Diane Ramsay said.
Annual wage inflation last year increased 1.8 percent, compared with annual consumer price inflation of 0.8 percent.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce said the figures showed 80,000 more jobs added to the economy in the last year, while the rising jobless rate reflected the record high participation in the labor market.
“The New Zealand economy is continuing to crank out strong job growth in this latest survey,” Joyce said.
“New Zealand continues to fare better than most of the OECD ( Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) since the Global Financial Crisis. The average unemployment rate across the OECD is currently at 7.2 percent,” Joyce said.
The main opposition Labour Party said the country was experiencing a jobless economic recovery and pointed out that New Zealand had fallen from ninth to 10th in the OECD unemployment rankings.
“Kiwis have done it too tough for too long. They want to see the economic recovery shared across the country, by all New Zealanders,” Labour leader Andrew Little said.
The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) said the wage figures failed to reflect that many workers at the bottom of the scale were seeing much lower or no pay increases.
“The New Zealand economy is growing, but real wages have not grown nearly as fast as they should have. Simply, workers are not getting a fair share,” said CTU secretary Sam Huggard said.
New Zealand’s unemployment rate edged back up to 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, although the number of people in work also rose, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.
The jobless rate was up from 5.4 percent in the previous quarter, but still down from 6 percent in the December 2013 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate reached a record 69.7 percent, up from 69 percent the previous quarter and 68.8 percent in the December 2013 quarter.
“Employment didn’t keep up with the record number of people entering the labor force, so even though employment growth was also strong over the quarter, the unemployment rate increased,” labor market and households statistics manager Diane Ramsay said.
Annual wage inflation last year increased 1.8 percent, compared with annual consumer price inflation of 0.8 percent.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce said the figures showed 80,000 more jobs added to the economy in the last year, while the rising jobless rate reflected the record high participation in the labor market.
“The New Zealand economy is continuing to crank out strong job growth in this latest survey,” Joyce said.
“New Zealand continues to fare better than most of the OECD ( Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) since the Global Financial Crisis. The average unemployment rate across the OECD is currently at 7.2 percent,” Joyce said.
The main opposition Labour Party said the country was experiencing a jobless economic recovery and pointed out that New Zealand had fallen from ninth to 10th in the OECD unemployment rankings.
“Kiwis have done it too tough for too long. They want to see the economic recovery shared across the country, by all New Zealanders,” Labour leader Andrew Little said.
The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) said the wage figures failed to reflect that many workers at the bottom of the scale were seeing much lower or no pay increases.
“The New Zealand economy is growing, but real wages have not grown nearly as fast as they should have. Simply, workers are not getting a fair share,” said CTU secretary Sam Huggard said.
