Australian joblessness steady at 5.8pc
Australia's unemployment rate held steady at 5.8 percent in August, beating forecasts and demonstrating the economy's resilience in the global financial crisis, analysts said Thursday.
Official data showed the loss of 21,100 jobs over the month was offset by a fall in the number of people actively looking for work. Analysts had tipped a 5.9 percent jobless rate.
The number of full-time positions fell by 30,800, while part-time jobs rose 3,800, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
"That is a very, very good response (by the jobs market)," Craig James, chief economist with stockbroking firm Commsec told Sky Business.
"Over the last five or six months, unemployment has only edged up from 5.7 to 5.8 percent. Full employment in the Australian economy is about 5.0 percent, so it just shows how well we've survived through this crisis."
James said it appeared the unemployment rate would peak at about 6.0 percent as the country emerges from the global downturn, significantly better than government predictions of 8.5 percent made in the budget in May.
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