New Zealand's employment confidence hits lowest since 2020, with jobs seen as hard to get.

New Zealand's employment confidence has hit its lowest point since September 2020, with the Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index falling 3.3 points to 88.3 in the March quarter. The survey highlights that more than half of respondents find jobs hard to get, with private sector confidence down by 4.7 points and public sector confidence slightly up. Despite a record-high farmgate milk price boosting some farming regions, overall sentiment remains pessimistic. Economists predict unemployment will peak at 5.2% this year before gradually declining.