New Zealand Unemployment Rate

Last Release

Mar 31, 2025

Actual

5.1

Units In

5.1

Frequency

Quarterly

Next Release

Aug 05, 2025

Time to Release

2 Months 28 Days 22 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
11.2 Sep 1991	3.2 Dec 2021	5.73 %	1985-2025	Statistics New Zealand

In New Zealand, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.

Latest Updates

New Zealand's unemployment rate held steady at 5.1% in the March quarter of 2025, unchanged from the previous quarter and below market expectations of 5.3%. The number of unemployed individuals also remained consistent at 156,000, evenly split between 78,000 men and 78,000 women. The seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate dipped slightly to 70.8 percent, down from 70.9 percent last quarter. Meanwhile, the underutilisation rate edged up to 12.3 percent, compared with 12.1 percent in the prior quarter.