Today, Stats NZ confirmed a widely-expected uptick in jobless Kiwis in the March quarter from 4.0 per cent in Q4 2023, and 0.9 per cent since the same time last year.
It is the highest unemployment rate for three years.
New Zealand is currently enduring a recession, with negative GDP growth in four of the last five quarters.
Underutilisation - which includes unemployed Kiwis, part-timers wanting more work and unavailable jobseekers - is also up to 11.2 per cent from 10.7 per cent last quarter.
In real terms, there are 31,000 more Kiwis seeking jobs than this time last year, and 75,000 total underutilised.
A majority of the increase in unemployed - 21,000 - are New Zealanders aged under 25.
While the jobless rate has not fallen since 2021, Stats NZ spokeswoman Deb Brunning said it remained historically low.
"While the employment rate has declined from recent highs over the past year-and-a-half, it still remains high within the full Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) timeseries, which began in 1986," Ms Brunning said.
