New jobs unlikely to dent New Zealand's unemployment rate

The number of New Zealanders in work will rise by about 1.8 percent over the next three years, but the new jobs are unlikely to make much of a dent in unemployment, according to a government report out Monday.

The number of workers would rise by about 124,200 from March this year to March 2018, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment report.

While employment would continue to grow, the pace would slow as economic growth eased over the next three years, it said.

Unemployment was forecast to remain relatively steady at 5.2 percent to 5.3 percent over the next three years.

The official unemployment rate at the end of June this year was 5.9 percent.