Labour Market Softening Continues

New Zealand’s unemployment rate continued to climb to 4.6% in the June 2024 quarter and over the year, unemployment rose by 33,000 to 143,000.

The labour force participation rate rose to 71.7% in the June quarter, up from 70.9% in the last quarter, with the number of people on a benefit reaching a new record of 380,889 people or 11.9% of the working-age population.

That exceeds the record previous June 2020 quarter when 11.5% of the working-age population was receiving a benefit. Jobseeker Support also climbed to 196,434, up 23,307 or 13.5% compared with June 2023.

Forecasts predict unemployment will peak at 5.3% by the end of 2024.

New Zealanders are pessimistic about the state of the labour market. The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Survey for the September quarter shows the lowest level of confidence since we were emerging from the lockdown in 2020.

Unemployment Rate, seasonally adjusted, June 2014-June2024 quarters

Source: StatsNZ

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