WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand’s top central banker said on Thursday that the deterioration in the country’s labour market was within the bank’s expectations, after data this week showed the jobless rate in the third quarter rose to the highest level since 2016. 

“It is hard out there, that is something that we had anticipated in terms of where we’re in the economic cycle,” Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Christian Hawkesby said at a parliamentary committee hearing.

* Hawkesby was speaking following the release of the RBNZ’sFinancial Stability Report on Wednesday. * Hawkesby reiterated that the central bank’s assessment ofthe financial system was that it was “well-placed, not only forwhat’s going on at the moment, but some more severe scenarios aswell, if they were to play out.”  * Hawkesby also said that there was no shortage of things toworry about at the moment, that risks remain elevated relativeto recent years and that top of the list of concerns was globaltrade fragmentation and trade wars. * “We don’t think we’re out of the worst yet,” Hawkesbysaid. * Hawkesby said New Zealand was currently experiencing amulti-speed economy with different regions and different sectorsresponding in different ways. 

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington and Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jamie Freed)