"Such volatile swings in employment across two months certainly make it difficult to pick a trend"
- Savanth Sebastian, an economist at Commsec
The overall jobless rate in Australia soared to its highest level in more than three years last month, tempering views that the economy strengthened in the beginning of the year, spurred by near record-low interest rates. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistic, the country's unemployment rate rose to a higher-than-expected seasonally adjusted 5.6% in March, up from 5.4% in February. Data also showed that that the number of Australians with work dropped 36,100 in March, with the number of people actively seeking a job falling as well. Latest data is adding to concerns that in the resource-rich economy a recovery, which was seen over recent months, was only tentative.
"Such volatile swings in employment across two months certainly make it difficult to pick a trend," Savanth Sebastian, an economist at Commsec. "Clearly, the answer lies somewhere in the middle."
"While employers are not out there significantly adding to the workforce, they are not out there firing existing staff," he added. "Rather businesses are in a holding pattern, awaiting an improvement in conditions."
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