Economists will be scratching their heads today, over unbudging unemployment figures

Stats NZ says the unemployment rate's stayed unchanged at 5.1 percent in the three months ending March.

Forecasters had predicted a rise to 5.2.

Herald Business Editor at Large, Liam Dann, says this is good news.

He says it could be a while before it peaks or the peak could be slightly lower than expected.

The number of full-time workers fell 45 thousand over the year, and part-time employment grew by 25 thousand.