NZ Unemployment Increase

Labour Party is accusing the National Government of doing nothing to prevent rising unemployment in New Zealand.

Today there were more than 2500 people had queued for hours for one of 150 jobs at a new supermarket in South Auckland yesterday. Only 0.06% chances of getting hired.

These are not dole bludgers, they are Kiwis who are desperate to work.

New Zealand's unemployment rate was still one percentage point higher than Australia's 5.5 per cent, he said.

An increasing number of people were still losing their jobs and struggling to feed their families, despite Prime Minister John Key's confidence late last year that jobless numbers were coming down, Mr Goff said.

Unemployment rose to 150,000 last year, while many more thousands of Kiwis were also forced to work reduced hours and wages were squeezed.