New Zealand's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 5.6% in the June 2026 quarter, higher than both the upwardly revised figure in the previous quarter and market expectations of 5.4%. It was the highest reading since the third quarter of 2015 as the number of unemployed individuals rose by 7,000 from the prior quarter to 171,000. At the same time, employment increased by 13,000 to 2.91 million during the quarter, bringing the employment rate to 66.7%, unchanged from Q1.