N.Z. Employers Unexpectedly Cut Jobs Last Quarter; Kiwi Dips
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New Zealand employers unexpectedly cut payrolls for a third straight quarter, the longest slump since the 2009 global recession, sending the local currency and bond yields lower as job seekers gave up searching for work.
Employment slumped 1 percent, or 23,000 jobs, from the third quarter, Statistics New Zealand said in a report today in Wellington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of eight economists was for a 0.4 percent gain. The jobless rate fell to 6.9 percent from 7.3 percent as workforce participation reached the lowest in eight years.