WELLINGTON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The employment rate for women rose to 62.8 percent in the June 2018 quarter, which followed an employment rate of 62.6 percent last quarter, New Zealands statistics department Stats NZ said on Wednesday.

"The overall employment rate has remained unchanged at 67.7 percent for three consecutive quarters," labor market manager Sean Broughton said in a statement, adding the employment rate for women is the highest since records began more than 30 years ago, and represents 1.25 million women at work.

In the June 2018 quarter, the number of employed people grew by 13,000 to reach 2.63 million. This growth was mainly women between the ages of 25-39, Broughton said.

Annually, there were over 50,000 more women employed. Women account for nearly half of total employed people, he said, adding compared with last year, 26,200 more people were employed in the healthcare and social assistance industry. Women made up almost 80 percent of this increase, matching the make-up of the industry.

Employment growth in healthcare and social assistance is possibly in response to New Zealands ageing population, as the largest rise came from aged care residential and other health services, Broughton said.

The number of people in professional occupations increased by 29,700, influenced by 17,300 more women. The largest increases for women within the professional occupation came from registered nurses and accountants, statistics show.

The unemployment rate for women fell to 4.7 percent in the June 2018 quarter, a nine-year low, which follows an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent last quarter, Stats NZ said.