The New Zealand Unemployment Rate in the fourth quarter (Q4) climbed to 4.0% from 3.9% in the third quarter, according to data published by Statistics New Zealand on Wednesday. The market consensus was a 4.2% print in the reported period.

Additionally, the Employment Change rose to 0.4% in the fourth quarter from a 0.2% drop in the previous reading. This figure came in better than the expectation of a 0.3% rise.

Market reaction

Following the New Zealand (NZ) Q4 employment report, the NZD/USD pair is trading higher on the day at 0.6095, as of writing.

About New Zealand's Unemployment Rate

The Unemployment Rate released by Statistics New Zealand is the percentage of unemployed workers in the total civilian labor force. If the rate goes up, it indicates a lack of expansion within the New Zealand labor market and weakness in the New Zealand economy. Generally, a decrease in the figure is seen as bullish for the New Zealand Dollar (NZD), while an increase is seen as negative bearish.