26,000 unemployed under National

The Labour Market Statistics were released today, showing that unemployment has dropped to 5.1%. Even so, there are still 131,000 unemployed - 26,000 more than when National took office.

But while the unemployment rate is dropping, its not expected to get anywhere near the levels which prevailed during Labour's term. Rather than driving it to 3.5% or lower, National seems quite content to let it hover around 5%. And the result is stagnant wage growth and declining standards of living. That's just not good enough, and New Zealand deserves better.