The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in the March 2017 quarter (down from 5.2 percent in the previous quarter), while employment continued to grow, Stats NZ said today.

"In the March quarter, 6,000 fewer people were unemployed," labour market and household statistics senior manager Mark Gordon said. "The unemployment rate for men fell from 4.8 percent to 4.2 percent, making it the lowest rate since the December 2008 quarter. However, the unemployment rate for women was unchanged."

Unemployed people are those who are available to work, and who had either actively sought work or had a new job to start within the next four weeks.

The number of employed people increased 1.2 percent (29,000 people) in the March 2017 quarter. Men provided the main contribution to this increase, with more males in both full-time and part-time employment. For the sixth quarter in a row, employment growth exceeded growth in the working-age population (which was 0.7 percent). This meant New Zealand's employment rate was up by 0.3 percentage points, to 67.1 percent.