The unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent in the September 2012 quarter, up from 6.8 percent in the June 2012 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. Employment contracted in the September quarter. A fall of 8,000 people employed brought the employment rate down to 63.4 percent. The last time the unemployment rate was higher than the current rate was in the March 1999 quarter. “The unemployment rate has stayed between 6.4 and 6.8 percent over the past two years, and has now risen for the third quarter in a row,” industry and labour statistics manager Diane Ramsay said. There were 13,000 more people unemployed in ... (full story)