The unemployment rate fell to 6.9 percent in the December 2012 quarter, down from 7.3 percent in the September 2012 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. “We saw the unemployment rate fall this quarter after a rise last quarter. Although the unemployment rate fell, it is still 0.5 percentage points higher than a year ago,” industry and labour statistics manager Diane Ramsay said. The number of people in the labour force fell in the latest quarter, with falls in both the number of people employed and unemployed. As a result, the labour force participation rate fell 1.2 percentage points to 67.2 percent. The ... (full story)