New Zealand added more jobs in March – driven by the services sector – while household cost growth slowed.
Stats NZ data showed a seasonally adjusted rise of 8477 jobs in March to 2.41 million filled jobs, compared with February.
The services and goods-producing sectors added more jobs, while the primary industries sector declined last month.
Overall, economists expect the unemployment rate to nudge higher in the March quarter to above 4%. That data gets released on Wednesday morning.
Separately, other Stats NZ data out this morning showed household living costs increased 6.2% over the year to March, down from 7% in the 12 months to December.