Meanwhile, Wellington region unemployment dropped to 5.5 per cent from 6 per cent in the previous quarter, compared with 6.8 per cent a year ago.
About 16,000 people were unemployed last quarter, compared with 17,500 three months earlier, and 20,100 in March last year.
Beneficiary numbers have dropped across all three Wairarapa districts as national welfare numbers hit their lowest point in five years, with 3087 Wairarapa residents receiving benefits in the March quarter - close to 90 fewer than the same period last year.
Kiwi Recruitment Agency director Barry Gleeson said employment growth was good in some areas, but would wind down over the winter.
However, food manufacturers were showing consistent growth, particularly in the perishable goods industries.
"There's been an increase in demand for their products and their services. But it's not really significant. It's not like there's 50 new jobs."
Construction had been steady, but Wairarapa was lacking the "big projects" of the past, Mr Gleeson said.
"There's things probably on the drawing board, but they haven't come to fruition at this stage.
"Testimony to that would be the industrial park at Waingawa. We've got a lot of capacity ... but there's not a lot of new buildings going up."
Nationally, the employment rate rose 0.4 per cent to 65.1 in the three months to March, and 1.4 per cent compared with a year ago.
Employment is at its highest rate since December 2008, while national unemployment remains at 6 per cent.
In the year to March, the number of Kiwis employed nationwide jumped 84,000 to 2.32 million - the largest annual increase since December 2004.
"We're seeing more people in the labour market, with the participation rate surpassing the previous high in late 2008 before the downturn in the labour market," labour market and households statistics manager Diane Ramsay said.
"The rise in participation is on the back of more people in work, while the number of people looking for work remains unchanged."
