New Zealand Has 5.7% Unemployment Rate In Q4

(RTTNews) - The unemployment rate in New Zealand was 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday.

That missed forecasts for 5.3 percent and was up from 5.4 percent in the third quarter.

The employment change showed an increase of 1.2 percent on quarter - beating expectations for 0.8 percent, which would have been unchanged. On a yearly basis, the employment change was 3.5 percent, topping forecasts for 3.0 percent and up from 3.2 percent in Q3.

The participation rate was a record 69.7 percent, which beat forecasts for 69.1 percent after showing 69.0 percent in the previous three months.