The latest Statistics New Zealand labour force survey data shows unemployment at 5.3 percent. While we will never be satisfied with this, it is worth noting that this is nearly half the rate of unemployment that had been anticipated at Budget 2020, and it means that 117,000 fewer people are unemployed than expected by Treasury just seven months ago. Even more pleasingly is the very latest data from Statistics New Zealand showing that this strength is continuing with monthly filled jobs data showing an increase of 27,667 jobs in October.