(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand filled jobs were little changed for a second straight month in September following four consecutive declines, adding to signs the labor market is getting weaker.
The gauge rose by 1,001 or 0.04% from August to 2.364 million, Statistics New Zealand said Tuesday in Wellington. That followed a mere 260 increase the previous month, and a 31,885 slump in the four months through July.
Filled jobs have gained in just three of the past 12 months as high interest rates curb economic growth and hurt hiring. A report next week may show the jobless rate rose to a four-year high of 5% in the third quarter, local economists predict.
“The risks are tilting toward a third-quarter contraction in hiring and a rise in the unemployment rate to around 5%,” said Mark Smith, senior economist at ASB Bank in Auckland. “We continue to expect the labor market to progressively loosen heading into 2025.”
Hiring came under pressure after business confidence slumped in the first half of the year. Job vacancy advertisements in September were 29% lower than a year earlier, Bank of New Zealand said in a report last week.
The Reserve Bank cut the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points to 4.75% earlier this month as the weak economy gave it confidence it has inflation under control. It said at the time that labor market conditions were expected to ease further.
Most economists expect another 50-point reduction at the final meeting of the year on Nov. 27.
The economy shrank 0.2% in the second quarter and most local economists forecast another contraction in the three months through September.
The jobless rate has been progressively increasing as growth has slowed. It rose to 4.6% in the second quarter from a low of 3.2% in early 2022.
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