UPDATED 7.30PM: Students just out of university make up the bulk of the unemployment figures released today.

Unemployment has risen to 5.9 percent, with 262500 people without a job to go to.

11.5 percent of young people are not employed.

Council of Trade Unions Economist Bill Rosenberg says those in between the ages of 20 to 24 years old who are out of educational training are vulnerable.

"The group that includes university leavers has suffered the worst in terms of not being able to find work."

However the figures today also reveal a growth in employment - up by 0.3 percent, or 7000 positions.

Statistics New Zealand said population growth was greater than employment growth and that's the reason for the increase in the unemployment rate.

The Labour Party's finance spokesperson Grant Robertson isn't impressed with the numbers, saying 10,000 more people are unemployed today than there were at the same time last year.

"It's ten thousand people and their families who will be struggling to make ends meet because the breadwinners aren't in work. That can't be a good thing," Robertson said.

However Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce is highlighting a 7000 increase in employment, the 11th quarter in a row that job growth has been positive.

"We've also seen good wage growth, an average of around a three point two percent average weekly wage increases compared to inflation, and we're seeing strong growth in the manufacturing sector," Joyce said.

Joyce said it's pleasing to see, despite some economic head winds.