NZ 4Q jobless rate falls to 4.5% with little wage inflation; kiwi gains

Tue, 06 Feb 2018

By Rebecca Howard Feb. 7 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand's jobless rate fell to a fresh nine-year low in the December quarter but an influx of workers has kept a lid on wage inflation, something that will likely add to the view the central bank will continue to signal a flat interest rate track at Thursday’s review. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31 down from 4.6 percent in September, Statistics New Zealand said in its household labour force survey. That's the lowest level since the December 2008...

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