Australian unemployment fell below 6.0 percent in March, official data revealed Thursday, surprising analysts who had expected a higher figure and raising hopes that the jobless rate may have peaked. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said unemployment dropped from a revised 6.1 percent in February to 5.8 percent aided by a 40,200 lift in part-time positions, which offset a fall in full-time jobs.
"The number of people employed increased by 18,100 to 11,553,200 in March," the bureau said. With unemployment expected to rise this year as a decade-long mining boom moves out of the construction phase, ANZ chief economist Ivan Colhoun said the data was encouraging. "The Australian economy has improved a bit in the last three to six months," Colhoun said.
"I think the re-balancing is definitely happening. We can see housing approvals and construction strengthening, we can see consumer spending strengthening a bit, we can see job ads improving we can even see some better signs from non-mining investment intentions. "There are encouraging signs." The jobs data helped the Australian dollar jump to 94.40 US cents, while shares in Sydney were up 0.45 percent. Chief economist at AMP Capital Shane Oliver said the jobs figures were well ahead of market expectations and surprisingly strong given a gain in jobs in February with employment now up 1.1 percent from a year ago.
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