NZ jobless rate unexpectedly rises to 6.8 percent in 2Q as jobs growth stalls; kiwi tumbles

Wed, 08 Aug 2012

By Paul McBeth Aug. 9 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand's unemployment rate expectedly rose in the second quarter as the pool of jobs shrank for the time since December 2010. The kiwi dollar dropped almost half a US cent on speculation a weak labour market gives the central bank more room to cut interest rates. The unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 6.8 percent, the highest since June 2010, according to Statistics New Zealand's household labour force survey. Economists surveyed by Reuters were expecting the headline rate to come...

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