AAP

New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to a nine-year high 6.5 per cent in the September quarter, from 6 per cent in the previous three months.

The number of people unemployed reached its highest level in 15 years, rising 12,000 or 9 per cent during the September quarter to reach 150,000.

The rise in the unemployment rate was slightly above expectations, with the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists having been for a rise to 6.4 per cent.

Better employment figures are expected to lag any return to growth in the wider economy, after figures released in September showed gross domestic product edging up 0.1 per cent in the June quarter, following five quarters of contraction.

At that time Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) warned the growth was so small it could not be seen as a sign of economic recovery.

Along with the unemployment rate, the Household Labour Force Survey released on Thursday by SNZ also showed seasonally adjusted employment falling 0.8 per cent, worse than the 0.3 per cent median fall prediction.

The seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate was 68 per cent, down 0.4 percentage points from the June quarter.

The unemployment rate has been rising from a low of 3.5 per cent in the December 2007 quarter.