Better on the surface, but wobbly underneath

Economy Watch · Nov 5, 2025 · 5m

Kia ora,

Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.

I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.

And today we lead with the good bits of news which seem to dominate today are in fact masking some less-than-good trends nested within them.

First up, US ADP employment report on private payrolls for October reported a +42,000 rise in filled jobs, much better than the -29,000 shedding in September and also better than the expected +25,000 gain observers had thought. They also reported that pay…