New Zealand data:
Unemployment rate for Q2: 5.6%
- expected 5.8%, prior was 6.0%
- Unemployment rate at its lowest in 5 years
Employment change for Q2 q/q: +0.4%
- expected +0.7%, prior was +0.9%
Employment change for Q2 y/y: +3.7%
- expected +4.0%, prior was +3.7%
- Employment growth in the Canterbury region accounted for nearly half of the total (h/t to Tom in the comments)
Participation rate for Q2: 68.9%
- expected 69.3%, prior was 69.2 (revised from69.3%)
Average hourly earnings for Q2: +0.5% q/q
- expected +0.6%, prior was 0.7%
Private wages excluding overtime for Q2: +0.6% q/q
- expected 0.5%, prior was 0.3%
Private wages including overtime for Q2: +0.6% q/q
- expected 0.5%, prior was 0.3%
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From Statistics New Zealand: “Labour market continues to improve” (that’s the media release, but the full report can be accessed from links there)
Labour market and households statistics manager Diane Ramsay:
- “We continue to see more people move into employment and although the participation rate has dropped from a peak last quarter, it is still at an historically high level”
- “Annual wage inflation edged up and this was driven by private sector annual wage rate growth of 1.8 percent – influenced by the minimum wage increasing 3.6 percent. Public sector annual wage rate growth was unchanged at 1.2 percent”
NZD a little lower again
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Next up for the Kiwi, New Zealand finance minister English is speaking today, twice. Firstly at 2320GMT
And, earlier: New Zealand – Dairy auction overnight creams the Kiwi
