WELLINGTON, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent in the September 2026 quarter, up from 5.6 percent in the previous quarter, official data showed on Wednesday.
There were 174,000 unemployed people in the September quarter, while the broader underutilization rate, a broader measure of untapped labor market capacity than unemployment, remained unchanged at 13.8 percent, representing 438,000 people, according to the national statistics agency Stats NZ.
The number of employed people remained broadly stable at 2.891 million during the period, compared with 2.896 million in the June quarter, Stats NZ said, noting the employment rate fell to 66.4 percent from 66.7 percent in the previous quarter.
Stats NZ labor market spokesperson Abby Johnston said in a statement that casual and fixed-term roles had increased over the year, while there had been a shift toward part-time employment over the quarter.
The number of casual employees rose 19.5 percent to 116,900 over the year, and fixed-term employees increased 18.9 percent to 50,900, statistics showed.
The number of people in part-time employment grew by 15,000 over the quarter, while full-time employment fell by 17,000, the agency said.
Annual wage inflation was 2.1 percent in the September quarter, with average ordinary-time hourly earnings up 2.9 percent over the year to 44.86 NZ dollars (about 25.07 U.S. dollars), it said. ■
