2017.11.1520:31:00UTC+00Australia Jobless Rate Falls To 5.4% In October

The unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.4 percent in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

That beat forecasts for 5.5 percent, which would have been unchanged from the September reading.

The Australian economy added 3,700 jobs in October to 12,297,100, well shy of the forecast for 18,800 following the addition of 19,800 in the previous month.

The participation rate fell to 65.1 percent, missing expectations for 65.2 percent, which would have been unchanged.

Full-time employment increased 24,300 to 8,425,400 in October and part-time employment shed 20,700 to 3,871,700.

Unemployment decreased 8,100 to 701,500. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work remained steady at 485,900 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 8,100 to 215,600.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 4.6 million hours (0.3 percent) to 1,723.7 million hours.