The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in the December 2020 quarter, from 5.3 percent in the September 2020 quarter, Stats NZ said today.

Last quarter’s unemployment rate of 5.3 percent followed the largest increase observed in a single quarter since the series began in 1986.

Before the September 2020 quarter, the unemployment rate had been trending downwards from a peak rate of 6.7 percent in the September 2012 quarter. The December 2020 quarter's rate of 4.9 percent is a return to rates observed over three years ago, when the unemployment rate was also 4.9 percent in the March 2017 quarter.

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• Unemployment drops to 4.9 percent as employment picks up
• Labour market statistics: December 2020 quarter
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