Unemployment drops sharply to 5.3%, near six-year low; kiwi dollar gains

Tue, 02 Feb 2016

By Paul McBeth Feb. 3 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand unemployment unexpectedly fell to near a six-year low in the final three months of 2015 as people left a labour market flooded by strong migration and as employers took on more workers. The kiwi dollar initially jumped almost half a US cent. The unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in the December quarter from 6 percent three months earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand's household labour force survey. That's the lowest level since March 2009, and came in below economists' predict...

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