By IANS,
Sydney : Australia’s unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 5.1 percent in January, lowest since July 2011, data from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed Thursday.
The ABS reported the number of people employed increased by 46,300 to 11.46 million in January.
The increase in employment was driven by increased part-time employment, up 34,000 people to 3,400,800, and an increase in full-time employment, up 12,300 people to 8.06 million, the ABS said.
The number of people unemployed fell by 15,300 people to 614,200 in January, reported Xinhua.
Most economists expected just 10,000 jobs to have been added in January with the unemployment rate at 5.3 percent.
Australia’s financial services provider CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that the ABS figures suggested Australia’s job market was trending strongly.
“That the unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 with an expansion in the participation rate says good things about the economy,” he said.
McCarthy said the two official interest rate cuts in November and December may have boosted employer confidence.