WELLINGTON, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.3 percent in the September 2025 quarter, marking the highest rate since the December 2016 quarter, Stats NZ reported Wednesday.
"The unemployment rate has been over 5 percent for the last four quarters. The last time that the unemployment rate was 5.3 percent was in the December 2016 quarter," Stats NZ labor market spokesperson Jason Attewell said.
There were 160,000 unemployed people in the September 2025 quarter. Of those who were unemployed, 14.5 percent had been unemployed for over a year, according to the statistics department.
The underutilization rate, which includes unemployed and underemployed workers and the potential labor force, climbed to 12.9 percent in the September 2025 quarter from 11.7 percent a year earlier, it said.
Underemployment rose to 138,000, predominantly affecting women, mostly working part-time but wanting more hours, it added.
The unemployment rate for 15 to 24-year-olds increased from 13.1 percent to 15.2 percent in the year to the September 2025 quarter, statistics show.
