New Zealand’s unemployment falls to record low in Q3’21

The number of unemployed people declined by 18,000 in the third quarter to 98,000, and marks the lowest unemployment level since 2008.
By: | November 5, 2021
Topics: Job Cuts | New Zealand | News | Recruitment

The unemployment rate in New Zealand fell to a record low of 3.4% in 3Q2021, registering its lowest level since the start of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. 

The number of unemployed people declined by 18,000 in the third quarter to 98,000.

“The strong decline in unemployment brought the rate down to New Zealand’s lowest rate on record, matching December 2007, when it was also 3.4 percent,” said Becky Collett, work and wellbeing statistics senior manager at Stats NZ.

“The fall in the unemployment rate is in line with reports of difficulty finding workers and high labour turnover, and continued travel restrictions on international arrivals, which put pressure on domestic labour supply,” she said. 

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Over the quarter, the number of under-utilised people fell by 36,000 to 278,000, with half of the decline stemming from unemployment.

Under-utilisation is defined by those who are unemployed; those who are employed part-time and are seeking for more work; and people who want jobs but are unavailable to work or not actively job seeking.