Wellington  - New Zealand's unemployment rate, which has been rising steadily for nearly two years, reached 6.5 per cent in the September quarter, according to official figures released Thursday.

A rise of 12,000 in the jobless total to 150,000 means more people are out of work than at any time since early 1994, Statistics New Zealand reported.

The unemployment rate was up half a per cent on the previous quarter and Employment Minister Paula Bennett said it was forecast to continue rising to peak closer to 7 per cent.

"New Zealand has come out of recession - just," she said. "But unemployment tends to lag behind an economy getting back on its feet."

Despite the rise, Bennett said the number of people receiving an unemployment benefit had dropped marginally in October to below 60,000, though it would rise again as students joined the job market in the coming summer holidays.

She said New Zealand's unemployment rate remained below the 8.6- per-cent average in the 30-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (dpa)