New data reveals unchanging unemployment, slight wages growth
New Zealand's unemployment rate remained at 5.1% in the March 2025 quarter, according to the latest data from Stats NZ.
Seasonally adjusted levels of unemployment stayed at 156,000 between the quarters of December 2024 and March 2025.
However, annual unemployment went up by 22,500 to 156,000.
"While unemployment was unchanged over the quarter, longer-term trends mean the labour market appears quite different to the same quarter last year," said Abby Johnston, labour market spokesperson, in a statement.
Alan McDonald, Head of Advocacy at the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), said it was "encouraging" that the unemployment rate remained stable.
"Unemployment is usually a lag indicator of the economic bad news and, while it's too early to say the bad news has stopped, it's encouraging that the number was stable rather than increasing, as had been widely expected," McDonald said in a statement.
Despite this, he noted that calls on their AdviceLine service on redundancies and restructures remain at "very high levels."
"However, last month they did drop off so we're hoping, like the unemployment number, they may have reached their peak. Those processes usually take another two to three months to work through the system," he added.
The annual rise in unemployment also fuelled New Zealand's underutilisation rate, or the broader measure of untapped capacity in the labour market, according to Stats NZ.
It went up by 35,000 annually to 390,000 in March 2025. By quarter, it went up to 12.3% from the previous 12.1% in the last quarter.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's employment rate remained relatively flat at 67.2%, according to Stats NZ.
Its findings show that the number of employed people went up by 2,000 in the March quarter, but down by 21,000 annually to 2,914,000.
Stats NZ said the drop in annual employment comes as more employees transitioned to part-time work. According to the data, the number of people in full-time employment went down by 45,000 over the year, while those in part-time work went up by 25,000.
"Approximately 21% of employed people work part-time – 12% of men and 30% of women," Johnston said.
The average ordinary time hourly earnings in New Zealand also went up 4.5% to $42.79 in the year to the March quarter, according to Stats NZ.
This is a slight climb from the annual wage growth of 4.2% in the year to the December 2024 quarter.
"While this result is encouraging, it reinforces the need for strong fiscal management and economic growth," said Finance Minister Nicola Willis in a statement.
According to the minister, the government aims to deliver a "responsible budget" to help struggling New Zealanders in the economy.
"I know people are still struggling in this economy, that's why on 22 May the Government will deliver a Budget that continues the work to get the books back in order, while building on the foundations we’ve laid to foster economic growth," she said.
