WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s jobless rate held at 3.3% in the third quarter even as employment surged 1.3% as more people went looking for work, according to data released by Statistics New Zealand on Wednesday.
The participation rate jumped to a record high of 71.7% in the third quarter, above forecasts of 71.0%.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast an unemployment rate of 3.2% and employment growth of 0.5%.
Statistics New Zealand data showed third quarter seasonally adjusted private sector wages rose 3.8% on the previous year. Wages were up 1.1% on the prior quarter.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Chris Reese)
