(Image: Getty)New Zealand’s jobless rate is widely seen hovering at 5.3% in the final three months of 2025, in line with slack in the NZ labour market and bringing the Official Cash Rate back into focus.Whereas ANZ, UBS, and Westpac saw fourth-quarter 2025 unemployment unchanged from the preceding quarter. ANZ picked it to tiptoe down to 5.2%.The Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), released by Stats NZ on Feb 4, will be factored into economic forecasts for New Zealand, which has been burdened by a cost-of-living crisis.The week before last, the Reser...