Jobless rate rises as New Zealand economy grows

WELLINGTON, Feb 4 (Xinhua) :  New Zealand's unemployment rate edged back up to 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, although the number of people in work also rose, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.

The jobless rate was up from 5.4 per cent in the previous quarter, but still down from 6 per cent in the December 2013 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate reached a record 69.7 per cent, up from 69 per cent the previous quarter and 68.8 per cent in the December 2013 quarter.

"Employment didn't keep up with the record number of people entering the labour force, so even though employment growth was also strong over the quarter, the unemployment rate increased," labor market and households statistics manager Diane Ramsay said.

Annual wage inflation last year increased 1.8 per cent, compared with annual consumer price inflation of 0.8 per cent.