UPDATE: NZ jobless rate falls to 4.9% but muted wage inflation to keep RBNZ on hold

Wed, 03 May 2017

(Recasts to focus on low wage inflation, adds economist comments) By Rebecca Howard May 3 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand’s unemployment rate fell more than expected in the first quarter, however the continuing influx of migrants kept wage inflation muted, adding to the view that interest rates are unlikely to budge any time soon. The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in the three months ended March 31 from 5.2 percent in the December quarter, Statistics New Zealand said. Economists had been expecting the unemployment rate to be 5...

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