New Zealand’s unemployment rate is on the rise, along with a growing labour force, particularly in Auckland.
Despite growth in the number of jobs, unemployment has risen to 5.7% in the first quarter of the year, reports Statistics New Zealand.
Although the economy has added 47,000 new jobs in the past year – the biggest increase in 12 years – that is still not enough to keep pace with the number of people entering the workforce, due to record migration.
Statistics New Zealand reports that the construction sector recorded the biggest growth in jobs, and that nearly half of new jobs were in the Auckland region.
The total working age population has increased to almost 3.7 million which is an increase of 0.8% in the in the March quarter – the biggest increase since the series began in 1986.
This growth means that wage inflation remains low, at 0.4% for the quarter. NZ Herald reports that this will cause concern for the Reserve Bank as it tries to generate added inflation pressure, according to economists at ASB.
The Bay of Plenty region bucked the unemployment trend, recording a drop in unemployment from 7.8% to 5.1% - making it the region with the lowest unemployment in the country.