Unemployment at highest level since 2020

Choosing between putting food on the table or paying essential bills, while applying for hundreds of jobs - and not hearing back. That's the reality for many of the people who've found themselves out of work, as they compete for a scarcity of available jobs. According to latest Stats NZ employment data, out today, unemployment rose to 5.1 percent in the three months ended December - the highest level since 2020. Among the 156,000 unemployed are thousands of workers culled in the coalition Government's programme of public-sector cuts. Louise Ternouth reports.