Australia jobless falls to 5.8%
12 December 2015 by News Desk
An extra 71,400 jobs were created in Australia in November, forcing the unemployment rate down to 5.8%.
Unemployment in Australia is now at the lowest level in 20 months following the strongest two-month period of jobs growth in 28 years. The increase in jobs follows an additional gain of 56,000 jobs in October.
Forward indicators such as job adverts suggest new jobs growth of 2% a year which represents around 20,000 jobs added) every month.
The participation rate (the number of people either employed or actively looking for work) rose to 65.3% in November, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Full-time employment rose by 41,600, and the number of part-time jobs was up by 29,700. Unemployment fell to 5.2% in New South Wales and to 5.9% in Queensland. It also fell slightly in South Australia but increased from 5.6% to 6.2% in Victoria and from 6.4% to 6.65 in Western Australia.
The latest figures highlight the strongest two-month period of jobs growth since December 1987 and January 1988.
