The unemployment rate in Australia was a seasonally adjusted 5.6 percent in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.
That beat expectations for 5.7 percent, which would have been unchanged from the July reading.
The Australian economy lost 3,900 jobs last month – badly missing forecasts for an increase of 15,000 following the downwardly revised gain of 25,300 in the previous month (originally 26,200).
There were 11,500 full-time jobs added in August, following the loss of 46,100 in July. There were 15,400 part-time jobs lost last month following a surge of 69,600 in the previous month.
The participation rate came in at 64.7 percent, shy of expectations for 64.9 percent, which would have been unchanged.
Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased by 3.9 million hours (0.2 percent) in August to 1,656.0 million hours. The employment to population ratio fell 0.1 percentage point to 61.1 percent in August.
By region, the largest employment increase was in Victoria (up 20,700 persons), while the largest decreases were in New South Wales (down 9,200 persons), and Queensland (down 7,600 persons).
Decreases in the unemployment rate were seen in Victoria (down 0.3 percentage points) and New South Wales (down 0.1 percentage points).
Increases were recorded in Tasmania (up 1.0 percentage point to 7.2 percent), South Australia (up 0.5 percentage points to 6.8 percent) and Queensland (up 0.1 percentage points to 6.2 percent).
Also on Thursday, the ABS said that the total number of new motor vehicle sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on month in August, , the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – coming in at 97,929.
That follows the 1.3 percent decline in July.
By category, sales for passenger vehicles were down 0.5 percent on month, while other vehicles fell 0.1 percent and sports utility vehicles jumped 0.9 percent.
Be region, Tasmania had the largest gain with 1.8 percent on month, while the Australian Capital Territory had the biggest fall – down 1.5 percent.
On a yearly basis, new motor vehicle sales climbed 2.9 percent after rising 1.6 percent in the previous month.
by RTT Staff Writer
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