Unemployment hits 5.2%, 16,000 more jobless in past year
This is the highest unemployment rate since 2020.
It compares with 5.1% in the March 2025 quarter and 4.7% in the June 2024 quarter.
It was slightly better than the 5.3% expected by the consensus of economists but in line with Reserve Bank forecasts.
There were 158,000 unemployed people (seasonally adjusted) in the June 2025 quarter, compared with 156,000 in the March 2025 quarter.
Annually, unemployment rose by 16,000 people.
But the numbers for New Zealand’s largest city look much worse.
The unemployment rate in the Auckland region increased 1.5% annually, from 4.6% in the June 2024 quarter to 6.1% in the June 2025 quarter. Annually, the number of unemployed people in Auckland increased by 15,000.
Auckland had 23,100 fewer people in employment year-on-year, but its total labour force also fell.
“Labour market conditions have changed considerably in the last few years. Since the June 2022 quarter, the unemployment rate has risen by 1.9 percentage points,” labour market spokesman Jason Attewell said.
“The underutilisation rate has risen by 3.5 percentage points over the same period.”
The underutilisation rate was 12.8% in the June 2025 quarter, compared with 12.4% in the March 2025 quarter and 11.9% in the June 2024 quarter.
Underutilisation is a broad measure of untapped labour market capacity that includes unemployed and underemployed people, along with the potential labour force.
“A relatively sharp rise in the underutilisation rate suggests overall slack in the labour market has opened up a little more than the headline unemployment rate implies,” ANZ senior economist Miles Workman said.
The employment rate was 66.8% in the June 2025 quarter, compared with 67.1% in the March 2025 quarter and 68.3% in the June 2024 quarter.
“Wages continued to grow, although at a slower pace compared with June 2024,” Attewell said.
Annual wage inflation was 2.4%, compared with 4.3% in the June 2024 quarter, and average ordinary time hourly earnings were $43.39, up 4.5% (compared with a 5% rise in the June 2024 quarter).
ANZ market strategist David Croy said there was little market reaction, the New Zealand dollar remaining at around US59.02c in the minutes following the release.
“It [the data] was on the soft side, relative to where the Reserve Bank saw things,” Croy said, adding the release confirmed that there was slack in the labour market.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis noted that the unemployment rate landed lower than many had forecast, but that it was tracking slightly better than Treasury forecasts from last year.
“Treasury has been forecasting since prior to the last election that unemployment would peak around this time this year, and they had predicted that it would be at 5.4% now, whereas today’s print is 5.2%,” Willis said.
“Prior to the election, Treasury had forecasted [sic] that at this point in time, there would be 8000 more people unemployed than has actually turned out to be the case in these numbers.”
But BNZ head of research Stephen Toplis described the data as “unequivocally weak”.
“At face value, the movement in employment and the level of unemployment revealed a labour market that was not as weak as we had expected,” Toplis said.
“But a look under the bonnet reveals a picture that is at least as soft as we had feared, and one which is certainly weaker than the Reserve Bank had expected when it put together its May Monetary Policy Statement.”
Kiwibank economists agreed.
“At first glance, today’s employment report looked a bit better than expected, but it wasn’t,” senior economist Mary Jo Vergara said.
“It’s the big drop in labour force participation that’s keeping a lid on the unemployment rate,” Vergara said.
From (a downwardly revised) 70.7% to 70.5%, the participation rate had dropped to a four-year low.
“That in itself is a sign of a weak labour market. People are leaving the labour market because it is simply not as attractive as it once was,” Vergara said.
In fact, the labour force shrank over the year.
“That doesn’t happen often,” she said. “The 0.4% decline is the deepest since March 2013.”
===================================================
Neighbourhood Challenge: Who Can Crack This One? ⛓️💥❔
What has a head but no brain?
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!
Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Poll: 🗑️ Would you be keen to switch to a fortnightly rubbish collection, or do you prefer things as they are?
Aucklanders, our weekly rubbish collections are staying after councillors voted to scrap a proposed trial of fortnightly pick-ups.
We want to hear from you: would you be keen to switch to a fortnightly rubbish collection, or do you prefer things as they are?
Keen for the details? Read up about the scrapped collection trial here.
-
83% Same!
-
17% Would have liked to try something different
7 tips for buying your Christmas ham
It’s the centerpiece of the Christmas table, so when you’re peering into the supermarket chiller or ordering from the butcher, choosing the perfect ham can feel like a daunting task.
Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing one to bring home with you.
1. What type of ham to buy
You’ve got some decisions to make when it comes to the type of Christmas ham you’re going to buy.
Cooked on the bone (COB) ham is the traditional Christmas ham. If you’re buying a half ham, you’ll have the choice of the shank or fillet end. The shank is the part with the bone sticking out that gives the ham that traditional look. The fillet end is the round part that gives more meat. If you’re deciding whether to get a whole ham or half, consider how quickly you’ll be able to eat it all. You only have about a week to eat an opened ham before it will go off, so it can be a good idea to get two halves. That way you can eat one half during the week of Christmas and save the other for January.
Champagne ham has had the bone removed and only has the hock left on, so it’s easier to carve.
Pressed ham – also known as continental ham – has had the bones removed and has been pressed, so it’s also easy to carve.
2. Check the pork percentage
The label on a packaged ham will say what percentage is actually meat. Hams are injected with brine, to keep them moist, and additives. The brine injection level for manufactured hams is usually between 10% and 35% of the ham's weight. A manufacturer that wants to produce a cheap ham will add more water to bump up the weight.
3. Know how to tell if it’s New Zealand pork
By far, most of the hams bought in New Zealand this Christmas will be from pigs reared overseas. New Zealand imports pork from about 25 countries. It’s frustrating for New Zealand pig farmers because this ham can come from farms that don’t have to meet the same animal welfare standards as we have in this country. As a result, overseas meat is often cheaper.
If buying New Zealand pork is important to you, look for:
words on the packaging like ‘New Zealand pork’ or ‘born and raised in New Zealand’
4. Have a good look at the ham
If you’re going to be glazing your ham, look for one that is covered in a finger-thick layer of fat. This will give you the thickness you need to make good score lines.
New Zealand Pork’s website also advises looking for a ham that has a meaty texture rather than one that looks wet or rubbery. It says the ham’s skin should be smooth with even colouring. “If the knuckle is sunken, it may be overcooked. If the rind is buckled or uneven, it may be a sign of dryness.”
5. Ask a lot of questions
If you’re ordering your pork from a butcher, you probably won’t be able to compare hams like you would at the supermarket. So, make sure you ask lots of questions, now that you know what you’re looking for.
You could ask:
Is the ham made from New Zealand born and farmed pork?
What will be its injection percentage?
What flavours will it have?
You could even ask if there’s a glaze the butcher thinks would work particularly well with those flavours.
6. Know what size you’ll need
If the ham is the only meat on your Christmas menu, New Zealand Pork advises allowing 1kg of ham for five people. Or if you’ve got other meat options, 1kg will feed about six to eight people.
7. Know the best hams in New Zealand
The best hams of the year were awarded at the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards earlier in the year so you can check out which ones got medals. Some of them are only available in the city the butcher is based, but a Farmland boneless ham available nationwide won a gold award and Woolworths bone-in and boneless hams picked up bronze.
====================================================
Loading…
