The Council of Trade Unions said the latest GDP figures hide the reality that too many working Kiwis are struggling to make ends meet.

Gross Domestic Product increased by 1.1 percent in the three months to September.

CTU Economist Bill Rosenberg estimates New Zealand’s production went backwards by 1.6 percent over the year while the hours people worked increased.

"That's called labour productivity, and that's what drives in the long run, good wages and good salaries, so it's not a good look for future wage and salary growth."

Rosenberg said the public figures are actually hiding the reality of everyday workers.

He said growth per person in New Zealand over the last year has only been point nine percent, not the three percent that is in the headline.

He said it doesn't do a great deal to lift our living standards, when it's going up by less than one percent per year per person.