In the first quarter New Zealand's unemployment rate reached a six-year high since the country experienced worsening recession.

In the three months ended March 31st, the jobless percentage increased to 5% from 4.7% in the previous quarter, the latest data from Statistics New Zealand confirms.

The entire number of people without a job was 115,000, in the three months to March 31 up by 7000.

The unemployment rate reached 5 per cent the first time since March 2003, rising for the fifth successive quarter from a record low of 3.5 per cent in the December 2007 quarter.

Economists had predicted the jobless rate to increase to 5.3% and so the rise in jobless numbers wasn't as bad as thought.

Employment Minister Paula Bennett said that the new statistics were part of a regarding trend. She added that New Zealand was far better than some other developed countries.