-Riki Polygenis, co-heard of Australian economics at ANZ Research
Australia's unemployment rate unexpectedly dipped, as the economy added a surprisingly strong number of jobs. The jobless rate declined to 6.1% in March, compared with a revised 6.2% in the preceding month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Economists, in contrast, had called for an increase to 6.3%. The total number of people with jobs increased 37,700 to 11.72 million in March, more than double the amount analysts had expected.
Full-time employment soared by 31,516, while part-time jobs increased 6,148. On top of that, the labour force participation rate ticked up to 64.8% in the reported month from a revised 64.7% in February, suggesting the number of discouraged job seekers is falling. According to the RBA forecasts, the unemployment rate will reach 6.5% in 2016 before falling towards 6% in 2017.
Unemployment in Australia has hovered around 6% for the last year, hitting its highest level in more than 12 years in July at 6.4%. The increase in joblessness has largely been driven by the sharp decline in resource-sector investment over the last few years due to plummeting commodity prices and weaker demand from China, Australia's top export market. Thus, the data will alleviate the pressure on Joe Hockey, Australia's Treasurer, who has been facing increasing calls to wind down cost-cutting in May's budget in favour of more measures to underpin growth.
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