Australian Unemployment Rate Falls to 6%

Australia’s jobless rate has fallen to its lowest level for a year, official figures showed on Thursday, with the headline rate dropping to 6% in May.

The total number of people with jobs rose by 42,000 to 11.76 million in May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, markedly better than economists’ expectations of a rise of 10,000.

Janu Chan, senior economist at St George bank, said the numbers were very strong.

“I’m calling it a bit of a conundrum given the economy isn’t tracking so well,” Ms Chan said. “We’ve got below trend growth but we seem to be adding quite healthy job gains.”

She pointed to weak wages growth across the country as a possible reason for the upbeat numbers.

“That just gives greater scope for job hiring, and it could mean there’s a little bit more flexibility in the labour market than in much earlier years,” Chan said.

The data showed the participation rate, which refers to the number of people that have a job, are looking for work or are ready to start work, was steady at 64.7%.

via The Guardian

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