Economists: New Zealand's unemployment rate is still climbing, and economic recovery is expected in the second half of the year

On February 5th, Jin10 Data reported that despite the rapid interest rate cuts in New Zealand since mid-2024, the unemployment rate is still rising, which has left consumers and business owners searching for signs of economic recovery. Mark Smith, Senior Economist at ASB Bank, expects labor demand to remain weak until the second half of 2025 when the economy shows moderate recovery. During this period, businesses will have to carefully manage their workforce. Given that inflation is close to the target midpoint, further rapid relaxation of monetary policy seems appropriate to limit the impact on the economy and labor market.