New Zealand’s unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in the December 2024 quarter, the highest since 2020, according to the latest Stats NZ data, an increase from 4.8% in the previous quarter.
Stats NZ labour market spokesperson Deb Brunning noted that unemployment has been rising steadily since late 2022.
“The unemployment rate in the December 2024 quarter was the highest it’s been since the September 2020 quarter, when it was 5.2%,” she said.
The last quarter saw the largest annual decline in employment since 2009, with 32,000 fewer employed individuals compared to the previous year.
The seasonally adjusted employment rate dropped to 67.4% in December 2024, down from 69.0% in December 2023, 1News reports.
“This was the largest annual fall in employment since the year to the December 2009 quarter,” Brunning stated.
“Men accounted for 85% of the annual decrease in employment, reflecting substantial falls in the male-dominated occupation groups of technicians and trades workers, and machinery operators and drivers.
“Within the overall decrease in seasonally adjusted employment for men, there was also a shift from full-time to part-time work. While the number of men in full-time employment fell by 36,000 annually, the number in part-time employment grew by 9000.”
“Over the same period, the number of women in full-time employment fell by 5,000, but there was little change in women’s part-time employment,” Brunning added.
According to the country’s Finance Minister Nicola Willis, the figures were the “human cost of lingering effects of economic mismanagement by the previous government.”
“While the numbers today were largely in line with predictions, I feel for people who have lost their jobs or are finding it hard to find work,” she said.
“This underscores the importance of strong economic management. With inflation now under control and interest rates coming down, forecasters expect the unemployment rate to start reducing this year as economic growth picks up.
“While there are some encouraging indicators, such as wages rising faster than inflation, I know Kiwis are still doing it tough. In time, wage growth in a growing economy will mean households will start to feel some relief from ongoing cost of living pressures,” she went on to add.
Whereas Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds stated that rising unemployment occurs when the government decides to reduce funding for frontline services, cut public sector jobs, and weaken economic stability.
“Christopher Luxon’s coalition of chaos continues to plunge New Zealand deeper into recession. Their cuts have devastated the job market,” she said during a media release.
“If the government was serious about economic growth, it would reverse its cuts and take immediate action to stabilise the job market.”