The latest figures released by Statistics NZ today, February 5, show the country’s unemployment rate hit 5.1 per cent in the December quarter.

It’s up from 4.8 per cent in the September quarter and represents a figure of 33,000 more Kiwis who cannot find a job, with 156,000 people now out of work in this country as measured by the Household Labour Force Survey.

“Unemployment has been increasing since late 2022,” labour market spokesperson Deb Brunning says.

“The unemployment rate in the December 2024 quarter was the highest it’s been since the September 2020 quarter, when it was 5.2 percent.”

The annual fall in the employment rate reflects 32,000 fewer employed people over the past year.

“This was the largest annual fall in employment since the year to the December 2009 quarter,” Brunning says.

“Men accounted for 85 per cent of the annual decrease in employment, reflecting substantial falls in the male-dominated occupation groups of technicians and trades workers, and machinery operators and drivers.”

Within the overall decrease in seasonally adjusted employment for men, there was also a shift from full-time to part-time work.

While the number of men in full-time employment fell by 36,000 annually, the number in part-time employment grew by 9000.

Over the same period, the number of women in full-time employment fell by 5000, but there was little change in women’s part-time employment.

The Labour Party was quick to pounce on the latest unemployment figures, saying job losses are hitting Kiwis hard.

“This is what happens when the Government chooses to slash funding for frontline services, cut public sector jobs, and undermine economic stability,” Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds says.

“[Prime Minister] Christopher Luxon’s coalition of chaos continues to plunge New Zealand deeper into recession.

“Their cuts have devastated the job market, and now 33,000 more Kiwis are unemployed in just the past year.

“They promised a better economy, but all we’ve seen is an economic downturn, rising unemployment, and the sharpest recession, excluding Covid-19, in 30 years – all of which happened under National’s watch.”

Edmonds says if the coalition Government were serious about economic growth, it would reverse its cuts and take immediate action to stabilise the job market.

“That means investing in public services, infrastructure, and climate initiatives that create jobs, not axing funding for schools, hospitals, and public housing.

“The Government has had more than a year to deliver results, and instead it has chosen to hand out $2.9 billion to landlords and $216 million to tobacco companies, while families are left struggling to pay the bills.

“It’s time for leadership that invests in jobs, skills, and the future, not cuts and excuses.”