Unemployment has hopefully almost reached its peak.

Latest Stats NZ data is expected to show unemployment has reached 5.3% in the September quarter.

That's up from 5.2% in the June quarter.

BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones told Andrew Dickens they expect another rise in the December quarter, before the job market starts to recover next year.

He says there's still a bit of slog ahead of us, but there's encouraging signs, like job ads lifting and businesses wanting to increase employment.

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