New Zealand Dollar Falls After Weak Jobs Report

2026-11-04 00:38 By Judith Sib-at 1 min. read

The New Zealand dollar initially fell to a more than three-week low of $0.558 on Wednesday as weak jobs data reduced expectations of a December rate hike.

The kiwi later rebounded to $0.562 as the US dollar declined after Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in the midterm elections.

New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.7% in the third quarter from 5.6% previously and beat forecasts of 5.5%.

This marked the highest level in eleven years.

Employment also fell 0.1% over the quarter, against expectations of a 0.4% rise.

The figures suggest continued slack in the labor market and highlight the fragility of the economic recovery, as elevated oil prices and uncertainty ahead of the November 7 election weigh on business confidence and hiring activity.

The deterioration in labor-market conditions casts doubt on the need for further monetary tightening.

Markets have lowered the probability of a rate hike next month to below 50%, from around 75% the previous day.



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