New Zealand · data to Sep qtr 2026
How are jobs?
Bad.
Unemployment is 5.7%, above its 20-year average of 4.9%. Jobs are harder to find than usual.
For context: 5.7% is around the middle of all 163 figures since 1986.
Unemployment rate
Share of people who want work and can't find it, with the 20-year average
The strip under the chart shows the verdict each period would get by today's rules:Good OK Bad
See the latest numbers
| Period | Value | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Sep qtr 2026 | 5.7% | Bad |
| Jun qtr 2026 | 5.6% | OK |
| Mar qtr 2026 | 5.4% | OK |
| Dec qtr 2025 | 5.4% | OK |
| Sep qtr 2025 | 5.3% | OK |
| Jun qtr 2025 | 5.2% | OK |
| Mar qtr 2025 | 5.2% | OK |
| Dec qtr 2024 | 5.1% | Bad |
| Sep qtr 2024 | 4.9% | Bad |
| Jun qtr 2024 | 4.7% | Bad |
| Mar qtr 2024 | 4.4% | OK |
| Dec qtr 2023 | 4.0% | Good |
Source: Stats NZ, Household Labour Force Survey, unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted (licensed CC BY 4.0) · Series HLFQ.S1F3S · Latest Sep qtr 2026
How we judged this
What we test: How much the figure has changed over 1 year; then how far the latest figure sits above or below its 20-year average. Right now that's +0.4 pts over 1 year and +0.8 pts against the 20-year average.
- Bad if it’s up 1.00 pts or more on a year earlier, whatever the rules below say
- Good if under -0.50 pts against its 20-year average
- OK if from -0.50 pts to under +0.75 pts against its 20-year average
- Bad if anything the rules above don’t coverapplies now
Rules are checked from the top. The first one that fits decides the verdict.
About this data
- Measure
- Unemployment rate
- Latest
- 5.7% (Sep qtr 2026)
- Published
- Quarterly, by Stats NZ
- Verdict counts for
- Equal weight with the others in the overall verdict
Lower is better. We compare it with the long-run average because there's no official target for unemployment.
A fast rise counts against it too: if unemployment is up 1 point or more on a year earlier, jobs are Bad whatever the average says. In a downturn unemployment can climb quickly while still sitting below a long-run average pulled up by past slumps.
From the quarterly Household Labour Force Survey. The survey began in 1986, so verdicts start in 2006, once there are 20 years to average.