This was fall from 3.3% the previous quarter, which had been statistically revised down from an earlier estimate of 3.4%
Stats NZ says there was also a slight rise in total job numbers.
The seasonally adjusted number of employed people rose by 3,000 people to 2,831,000. This was a much more modest increase compared with last quarter.
Neither full-time nor part-time employment changed substantially over the quarter, but both measures retained the increases from the previous three quarters.
This meant full-time employment increased 3.2% to 2,270,000, while part-time employment increased by 5.7% to 567,000 people.
The seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate also remained high, at 71.1%.
Average ordinary time hourly earnings rose 3.8% in the year to the December 2021 quarter to reach $35.61.
But wage inflation, as measured by the labour cost index (LCI) for all salary and wage rates, rose at a slightly lower rate, 2.6% for the year.
These developments are expected to affect the mortgage industry indirectly, since a tight labour market could push up inflation, which will see borrowers paying a higher rate of interest on their loans.
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