Rising unemployment is expected to add to the case for a lower OCR

Unemployment's hit a five-year high of 5.2 percent and is expected to rise further.

Economists now broadly expect the Reserve Bank to cut the Official Cash Rate by another 25-basis-points, to three-percent, in two weeks.

BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones says further cuts now seem likely.

He says his team have been forecasting a neutral rate of 2.75 percent for years, but there's a chance the OCR could get to 2.5 percent in the current cycle.