2019.05.1522:18:00UTC+00Australia Unemployment Rate Rises To 5.2% In April

The jobless rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.2 percent in April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

That exceeded forecasts for 5.0 percent and up from the upwardly revised 5.1 percent in March (originally 5.0 percent).

The Australian economy added 28,400 jobs last month to 12,822,900 - topping expectations for an increase of 15,000 following the upwardly revised gain of 27,700 a month earlier (originally 25.700).

Full-time employment decreased 6,300 to 8,792,700 persons and part-time employment increased 34,700 to 4,030,200 persons.

Unemployment increased 21,200 to 703,900 persons.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 2.5 million hours to 1,788.5 million hours.

The monthly trend underemployment rate remained steady at 8.3 percent. The monthly underutilization rate increased 0.1 pts to 13.4 percent.

The monthly seasonally adjusted underemployment rate increased 0.3 pts to 8.5 percent. The monthly underutilization rate increased 0.4 pts to 13.7 percent.

The participation rate ticked up to 65.8 percent, beating forecasts for 65.7 percent - which would have been unchanged from the previous month.