"With wage pressures muted and employment growth yet to pick up to any great degree, we continue to expect that the RBNZ (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) will keep the OCR (official cash rate) on hold until September 2013," said the update, referring to the historically low 2.5 percent OCR rate.
The opposition Labour Party said the government's "hands off" economic policy had led to 2,800 jobs lost in the last three months alone.
"Manufacturing jobs are down by 5,700 in a year, even when primary processing is included. Outside of manufacturing of primary products, the position is even worse," Labour finance spokesperson David Parker said in a statement.
The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) said that while the average pay rise was 3.1 percent, only 56 percent of workers received a pay rise over the last year.
CTU economist Bill Rosenberg called on the government to complete the minimum wage review.
"We hope they are not planning to slow increases for those who need them most. The minimum wage increase flows on to many people on low wages," Rosenberg said in a statement.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling
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