New Zealand's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 3.9% in the September 2023 quarter from 3.2% in the same period a year ago, according to research from Statistics New Zealand.

Compared to the previous quarter (June 2023), the unemployment rate increased by 0.3% (from 3.6%).

The number of unemployed persons was 118,000, up from 95,000 the year prior and 110,000 in the prior quarter.

The underutilisation rate was 10.4% in the September 2023 quarter. This compared with 9.9% from the previous quarter and 8.9% from the previous year. The agency noted that underutilisation is a broader measure of spare labour market capacity than unemployment alone. Underemployed people are those employed part-time who want and are available for more work.

Work and Wellbeing senior manager Victoria Treliving, Statistics New Zealand, said, "Increases in unemployment and underutilisation over the year indicate increasing spare capacity in the labour market following competitive labour market conditions in 2021 and 2022."

Compared with the rest of the population, 15–24-year-olds tend to have higher underutilisation rates. In the September 2023 quarter, the underutilisation rate was 27.0 per cent for those aged 15–24, compared with 7.1 per cent for the rest of the population.

Meanwhile, the employment rate fell to 69.1% from a series high of 69.8% last quarter. However, the rate remains historically high, the fifth highest since the Household Labour Force Survey began in 1986.

The total number of employed persons was 2,919,000, down 6,000 from the prior quarter. The labour force participation rate stood at 72.0%, down 0.5% from the quarter before.

Average ordinary time hourly earnings stood at NZD 40.40 (USD 23.92), up 6.7% over the year. Weekly earnings stood at NZD 1,558 (USD 922.41), up 5.5% over the year. Annual wage inflation stood at 4.3% for the quarter.