Shock rise in unemployment to 3.4% - and shock slower wage growth

Unemployment has very surprisingly, risen to 3.4% from 3.3%, while private sector hourly wage growth has slowed to 8.1% from 8.6% when it was expected to rise. "As it turns out, labour market figures were slightly on the softer side of our, and more importantly, the RBNZ’s expectations so we are responding accordingly. The RBNZ had expected unemployment to drop to 3.2% and this was widely expected among other economists too. In the December 2022 quarter, the labour force 'participation rate' remained at 71.7% and the employment rate remained at 69.3%. Despite lower response rates, we remain confident that the data is fit-for-purpose for New Zealand’s official labour market measures."