Unemployment is continuing to rise

Figures just out from Stats NZ show the unemployment rate was FOUR percent in the three months to December.

That's up from 3.9 percent in the preceding three months - and well up from 3.2 percent in the quarter to March 2022.

Economists were divided on where the rate would land.

ASB and ANZ predicted 4.3 percent, and Kiwibank and Westpac 4.2.

Unemployment is still historically low -- well below the 6.7 reached in 2012.