NZ: Unemployment rate back to 4.3% - TDS

Annette Beacher, chief Asia-Pacific macro strategist at TD Securities, notes that the New Zealand’s unemployment rate popped to 4.3% in Dec qtr 2018, a breather after the decline from 5.2% to 4.0% over the last two years.

Key Quotes

“Employment barely rose by +0.1%/q and the participation rate eased to 70.9%.”

“The job creators were in Health, Professionals, Public and Retail sectors. Wages rose by +0.5%/q (TD/mkt +0.6%) and +1.9%/y. Business complaints about labour shortages boosting wage costs are not reflected in the official data.”

“For the RBNZ: despite today's 'headline' disappointment, the economy has achieved 'maximum sustainable employment' (MSE). Inflation is set to briefly move away from 2% due to low fuel prices, but return by year-end.”