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New Zealand's Unemployment Rate Forecast to Rise to 5.4% for June Quarter, Westpac Says

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New Zealand's unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 5.4% for the June quarter, with employment growing slowly, Westpac Banking said in a note on Wednesday.

This comes after a slight fall in the unemployment rate to 5.3% in the March quarter.

While employment has been gradually picking up again in recent months, it is not keeping up with population growth. The bank said it expects to see a rise in the unemployment rate accompanied by or replaced with a fall in labor force participation, as employment fails to keep pace with population growth.

Wage growth in the country is likely to remain subdued, given the slack in the labor market. The labor market can still be characterized as a "low-fire, low-hire" environment.

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