Midday Report Essentials for Wednesday 4 February 2026

More New Zelaanders are out of work with unemployment rising to its highest level in more than a decade. Auckland and Wellington are hit hard as people lose their jobs in the cities. We unpack the job stats with a top economist; Weighing the pros and cons of public funding for weight loss drugs, Pharmac Minister David Seymour joins us live. And Facebook sounds quaint. Moltbook is social media for AIs. Is this the singularity where the bots take over, or just part of the hype-panic cycle, as the world adjusts to AI agents. We speak to AI expert Joshua Vial.