Unemployment rate rises to 9 year high

The unemployment rate rose to a nine-year high of 6.5 percent in the September quarter, from 6 percent in the previous three months.

The number of people unemployed reached its highest level in 15 years, rising 12,000 or 9 percent during the September quarter to reach 150,000.

The rise in the unemployment rate was slightly above expectations, with the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists having been for a rise to 6.4 percent.

Better employment figures are expected to lag any return to growth in the wider economy, after figures released in September showed gross domestic product edging up 0.1 percent in the June quarter, following five quarters of contraction.

At that time Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) warned the growth was so small it could not be seen as a sign of economic recovery.

Along with the unemployment rate, the Household Labour Force Survey released today by SNZ also showed seasonally adjusted employment falling 0.8 percent, worse than the 0.3 percent median fall prediction.

The seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate was 68 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from the June quarter.

The unemployment rate has been rising from a low of 3.5 percent in the December 2007 quarter.