They faced real uncertainty and rising costs, and a lot of them made the hard call to hold off on hiring or expanding. Today’s data, showing unemployment at 5.6 per cent, reflects that.” They faced real uncertainty and rising costs, and a lot of them made the hard call to hold off on hiring or expanding. “For the New Zealanders who’ve been out there looking for work in that environment, we know it’s been hard going. It’s about giving employers the confidence to say yes to that next hire, that next expansion, that next investment.