New Zealand labour market much stronger than forecast

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The New Zealand labour market continues on a very healthy state, as shown by the latest data from the statistics bureau in the country, where employment change in Q1 rose by +1.7% vs 0.8% expected and -1.0% prior. The unemployment rate also had a significant reduction from to 6.2% vs 6.8% expected and 6.9% last, that is a 0.6 bp deviation.

As stated by the NZ bureau of statistics, which compares March 2013 quarter vs December 2012 quarter:

"The employment rate increased to 63.7 percent, up 1.0 percentage points. The number of people employed increased by 38,000 (up 1.7 percent). The unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points, to 6.2 percent. The number of people unemployed decreased by 15,000 people (down 9.1 percent). The labour force participation rate increased 0.6 percentage points, to 67.8 percent. The number of people not in the labour force decreased by 19,000."