Latest news with #MaryJoVergara
The Spinoff
5 days ago
- Business
- The Spinoff
When the Facts Change: Dissension in the RBNZ ranks
Kiwibank senior economist Mary Jo Vergara joins Bernard Hickey to unpack this week's monetary policy statement, and look ahead to an uncertain future for rates in Aotearoa. The Reserve Bank cut the Official Cash Rate this week, as expected, but one of the six members of the bank's rate setting committee voted to hold the OCR. That surprised markets and pushed up the wholesale interest rates that drive fixed mortgage rates. Bernard Hickey speaks with Kiwibank's Mary Jo Vergara about a very uncertain outlook for rates in the wake of Donald Trump's Liberation Day shock.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Work wanted: the thousands who can't get enough hours
Hundreds of thousands of people don't have as much paid work as they need - with labour market data showing while the unemployment rate remained stable in the recent quarter, fewer hours are being worked, and wage growth is slowing. Outside of the 2020 and 2021 Covid period, the number of hours worked recorded the deepest annual decline since 2009. The March quarterly data from Stats NZ shows 156,000 people are unemployed - but 234,000 more are under-utilised meaning they have a job but not enough hours or are able to work but may have given up looking. It all sits underneath the comparatively rosy headline figure of unemployment - which was unchanged during the period - to stay at 5.1 percent. Mary Jo Vergara is senior economist at Kiwibank. Photo: 123rf
