New Zealand employment grew 0.6% in Q4, better than expectation of 0.0% growth. Unemployment rate dropped back to 4.9%, down from 5.3%, much better than expectation of 5.6%. Though, it’s still higher than the 4.1% unemployment rate reported the same time a year ago. Labor force participation rate rose 0.1% to 70.2%.
Labor costs index rose 1.6% yoy, slowed from Q3’s 1.9% yoy. “In the LCI, we can see that annual wage inflation is slowing as fewer employees have received wage increases,” StatsNZ business prices delivery manager Bryan Downes said. “Over the past year, more than half of the positions surveyed received no wage increase.”
