New Zealand unemployment rate drops to 4.7% in the first quarter

RTTNews reports that Statistics New Zealand said that the jobless rate in New Zealand came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2021. That was shy of estimates for 4.9 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous three months.

The employment change was 0.6 percent on quarter, steady from the three months prior but surpassing expectations for 0.2 percent.

The participation rate was 70.4 percent in the first quarter - beating forecasts for 70.3 percent and up from 70.2 percent in the previous quarter.

The number of unemployed people fell to 135,000 (down 5,000) as 3,000 more men were unemployed and 8,000 fewer women were unemployed.

The underutilization rate rose to 12.2 percent in the March 2021 quarter, up from 11.8 percent last quarter. 

In Q1, the number of people who were underutilized rose to 366,000 (up 15,000) as 7,000 more men were underutilized and 8,000 more women were underutilized.

The employment rate rose to 67.1 percent, up from 66.8 percent last quarter. 

In the first quarter, there were 15,000 more employed people than last quarter, up to 2,750,000 as 2,000 more men were employed and 14,000 more women were employed.