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Source: ONE News
New Zealand's unemployment rate has risen far higher than thought to 7.3%.
The 0.8% rise in the December quarter sets a 10-year high, following a rise to 6.5% in the previous quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand's latest Household Labour Force Survey.
Economists had been expecting an unemployment rate of 6.8% while the Reserve Bank had tipped 6.6%.
The number of unemployed people in New Zealand also rose to 168,000, up 18,000 (12.2%) on the September quarter - the highest rise in nearly 17 years.
It is the eighth quarter in a row that both indicators have increased.
Statistics New Zealand says the increase in both is mainly due to a rise in the number of people entering the labour force but unable to find work, particularly those in the 15-24-year-old age group.
During the quarter, New Zealand's working age labour force rose by 14,500 people to 3,398,400. Measured over the course of the year there were 49,200 more working age people in the population.
Levels of unemployment by ethnic group saw unemployment among Maori lift to 15.4% compared with 9.6% in the December 2008 quarter. Unemployment for those in the MiddleEastern/Latin American/African ethnic group rose to 17.1%, up from 10.7%, and the rate among Pacific Islanders nearly doubled to 14% from 7.8%.
Unemployment among those of European descent rose from 3.2% to 4.6% and Asian from 6.3% to 9.2%.
Statistics New Zealand also highlighted the underutilisation of labour in the economy, with the level of underemployment - those who are working part-time but would prefer to work longer - at 22.9% compared with 19.3% in the same period in 2008.
Meanwhile, the economy failed to create enough new jobs with employment falling by 2,000 people, or 0.1%
While New Zealand's economy has shown signs of recovery - GDP rose a modest 0.2% in the September quarter - employment is generally considered a lag indicator.
The New Zealand dollar dropped almost half a cent on the release of the unemployment figures to around 70.10 US cents.
