New Zealand employment, unemployment, hourly earnings, wages data for Q4

Unemployment rate for Q4: 5.3% (yes, that huge drop is correct, reported by Stats NZ. Twitter already questioning it.)

  • expected 6.1%, prior was 6.2%

Employment change for Q4 q/q: 0.9%

  • expected +0.8%, prior was -0.4%

Employment change for Q4 y/y: 1.3%

  • expected +1.1%, prior was +1.5%

Participation rate for Q4: 64.8% 68.4 (64.8 was originally reported but the actual figure is 68.4, which makes a lot more sense)

  • expected 68.9%, prior was 68.6%

Average hourly earnings for Q4: 0.2%

  • expected +0.5%, prior was +0.9%

Private wages including overtime for Q4: 0.4%

  • expected 0.5%, prior was 0.4%

Private wages excluding overtime for Q4: 0.4%

  • expected 0.5%, prior was 0.4%

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NZD has jumped

A big drop in the unemployment rate, and gains in employment and average hourly earnings.

On the other hand, a big drop in the participation rate.

On the face of it, though, the RBNZ is making gains on it s employment mandate. The recent inflation data show they are still lagging badly on this target though.

The drop in participation will be a cause for concern in these figures. And low inflation still argues for further RBNZ rate cuts

NZD:

more to come