WELLINGTON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in the June 2024 quarter, compared with 4.4 percent last quarter and 3.6 percent in the June 2023 quarter, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Wednesday.
Unemployment has been increasing since 2022, leaving the current quarter's unemployment rate the highest since March 2021, said Stats NZ labor market manager Deb Brunning.
"Recent rises in unemployment align with other economic indicators, including an increasing number of benefit recipients, a decreasing number of job vacancies, and declining GDP (gross domestic product) per capita," Brunning said.
Over the year, unemployment rose by 33,000 to 143,000, Stats NZ said.
The underutilization rate, a broad measure of untapped labor market capacity that includes unemployed and underemployed people, along with the potential labor force, was 11.8 percent in the June 2024 quarter, up from 11.2 percent last quarter and 9.9 percent a year ago, it said.
Over the year, the total number of underutilized people rose by 66,000 to 377,000, it added.
Young people accounted for almost half the increase in unemployment and underutilization between the June 2023 and 2024 quarters, Brunning said.
Annually, the proportion of young people, aged 15 to 24 years, not in employment, education, or training, increased from 11.7 percent to 12.8 percent, statistics show.
In the June 2024 quarter, the annual wage inflation was 4.3 percent, and the average ordinary time hourly earnings rose 5 percent annually to 41.52 NZ dollars (24.77 U.S. dollars), Stats NZ said. ■