New Zealand’s Employment Change surprised sharply to the upside, breaking from the hitherto downward trajectory of recent data. The ranks of the employed grew 1.2% in the second quarter versus expectations of only 0.2%. This brings annualized jobs growth back into positive territory at 0.7%. The Unemployment Rate increased to 3.9% as the number of people seeking work increased by 33k. All told, the releases suggest a greater number of people were looking for work, with most of them not finding it. On balance, these results are unlikely to affect the pace of RBNZ monetary easing as they hardly make a conclusive case for a rebound in the smaller antipode’s underlying fundamentals. NZDUSD initially rallied beyond the 0.72 mark on the headline Employment Change figure, only to return to prior levels in late Asian trading as the market digested the limited implications of what had been released.
