By Gyles Beckford of RNZ

Unemployment looks set to linger around a near-decade high as the Middle East conflict dampens tentative signs of a recovery this year.

Major bank economists expect the unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 5.4 percent or nudge slightly higher for the three months ended March.

ASB economist Wesley Tanuvasa said the data would largely show the state of the market before the conflict broke out, but he expected a bigger workforce and greater demand for work to push unemployment higher.

"[The] labour market data is expected to reflect a firming employment trend and strong labour supply response, but headline numbers will likely remain weak. This is expected to push the unemployment rate up to 5.5 percent.…