Australia unemployment rises

Australia's unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in October from a low of 4.2 percent the previous month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said Thursday. Economists had predicted unemployment would remain at 4.2 percent, a level hit earlier this year for the first time in 33 years.
It was the first rise in the jobless rate since February and follows an interest rate rise on Wednesday widely seen as a potential fatal blow to the government's chances of re-election in a November 24 vote.
Prime Minister John Howard hailed the unemployment figures as "stunning" and an endorsement of his government's controversial industrial relations policies. "We've had sustained low unemployment now for 20 consecutive months," he said, repeating a target of reducing unemployment to around 3.0 percent if re-elected.
The ABS said total employment rose by a seasonally adjusted 12,900 jobs in October to 10.53 million, against economist expectations of a rise of 20,000. The number of unemployed increased by 15,700 to 478,500.
The number in full-time employment increased by 70,600 to 7.59 million but those in part-time employment decreased by 57,700 to 2.95 million, the ABS said. The workforce participation rate remained steady at 65 percent.
Howard's record on the economy has been one of his strongest campaigning points, but he has struggled to shrug off the central Reserve Bank of Australia's announcement on Wednesday that it was raising its cash rate by 0.25 percent to an 11-year high of 6.75 percent. He nevertheless remained upbeat about the unemployment figures.
"Giving people a job and a job of their choice is the most important thing a government ever does," Howard said, disparaging the policies of the Labour opposition as likely to destroy up to 400,000 jobs.
"Labour is the anti-jobs party in this election campaign." Treasurer Peter Costello, set to take over from Howard as prime minister in the next term if the conservative government is reelected, said the figures showed the creation of 280,000 new jobs, 98 per cent of them full-time. Costello acknowledged the possible inflationary impact of low unemployment, which he said would require careful management.