NZ: Payback in unemployment rate - ANZ

Liz Kendall, senior economist at ANZ, points out that the New Zealand’s unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, in large part reflecting payback from last quarter’s surprise drop.

Key Quotes

“Noise aside, the labour market has stabilised and the best may be behind us.”

“The underutilisation rate ticked up from 11.4% to 12.1%.”

“Wage inflation was stable at 0.5% q/q, nudging up from 1.9% to 2.0% y/y. Looking through temporary factors, underlying wage inflation is edging up only slowly, reflecting previous labour market tightening.”

“Today’s data could add to a more cautious tone from the RBNZ next week, even if their central forecasts do not change significantly. Our MPS preview will be released later today.”