Australia adds whopping 44,000 jobs in August, a big beat on expectations

Australia unemployment rate steadied at 5.3 percent in August, even as the economy added a whopping 44,000 jobs, the latest data published by Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed this Thursday. The markets were expecting a job addition of 15,000.  Employment change for the previous month was -3900.

Meanwhile, full-time jobs came in at +33,700 compared to +19,300 seen in July. The part-time employment rose 10,200 versus -23,200 last. The participation rate rose to 65.7% in the reported month versus 65.5% previous.

August Key Points (Source: ABS)

Employment increased 29,000 to 12,620,700.

Unemployment decreased 2,700 to 711,900.

The unemployment rate decreased to 5.3%.

Participation rate remained steady at 65.6%.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 2.5 million hours (0.1%) to 1,751.4 million hours.

Seasonally adjusted estimates (Monthly change)

Employment increased 44,000 to 12,631,300. Full-time employment increased 33,700 to 8,630,700 and part-time employment increased 10,200 to 4,000,600.

Unemployment increased 5,800 to 708,800. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work decreased 7,500 to 494,800 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work increased 13,200 to 214,000.

The unemployment rate remained steady at 5.3%.

Participation rate increased by 0.2 pts to 65.7%.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 0.6 million hours (0.03%) to 1,750.9 million hours.