Unemployment has fallen nationally to 5.3 per cent, the lowest since March 2009, according to the latest Household Labour Force Survey.

However, Bay of Plenty sits equal with Northland as the third highest region for unemployment rates.

The construction industry is continuing to grow.

Bay of Plenty's unemployment rate has increased by 0.5 per cent compared the 2014 figures. Only the Bay and Canterbury (0.4 per cent) had an increase in unemployment.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says there were an additional 21,000 jobs in the December quarter, and 175,000 additional jobs over the past three years.

'It's positive to see strong falls in unemployment in many regions, including Northland, Gisborne/Hawke's Bay, Manawatu/Whanganui, Nelson/Tasman/Marlborough/West Coast, Taranaki and the Waikato,” says Steven.

'The construction industry led the way with 27,500 more people in the year to December, largely driven off residential construction in Auckland. It's also positive to see strong growth in technicians and trade workers, with 20,800 more employed over the year.”

The majority of construction employment growth was in Auckland, with 18,900 more people

employed over 2015. Canterbury and Bay of Plenty also contributed to employment growth in the

construction industry (up 4,800 and 4,100, respectively).

Steven says wages continue to outpace cost of living increases, with the average weekly wage up 3.1 per cent in the past year, compared with inflation of 0.1 per cent.

Other highlights include youth not in employment, education or training (NEETS) was the lowest since September 2008 (10.9 per cent).

It shows NEET figure for 15-19-year-olds was again the lowest since records began in 2004 (6.5 per cent). It also shows Pacific peoples unemployment is now the lowest in seven years and Maori unemployment fell 1.6 per cent.

'This quarter's unemployment rate is better than nearly all commentators anticipated,” Steven says.

'While that measure will continue to move around each quarter, the job growth and employment figures for New Zealand continue to be strong relative to nearly all other developed countries.

'This shows that the New Zealand economy is growing well relative to our competitors and that the Government's economic programme including the Business Growth Agenda, is helping provide employers with the confidence to invest and grow jobs.”

Steven says the government will continue its relentless focus on encouraging investment to grow more and higher paying jobs for New Zealanders.

While the figures showed there had been a drop in unemployment nationally, Bay of Plenty sat third equal with Northland for the highest rate of unemployment with both regions having 6.2 per cent unemployment compared with December 2014.

The worst region was Manawatu/Whanganui 6.8 per cent followed closely by Gisborne/Hawke's Bay with 6.7 per cent.