2017.12.1320:45:00UTC+00Australia November Jobless Rate Unchanged At 5.4% In November

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

That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the October reading.

The Australian economy added 61,600 jobs last month to 12,403,000 - shattering expectations for a gain of 19,000 following the addition of 7,800 jobs in the previous month.

Full-time employment gained 41,900 jobs to 8,501,900 following the addition of 31,000 in October, while part-time employment gained 19,700 to 3,901,100 following the loss of 23,200 a month prior.

Unemployment increased 4,100 to 707,700. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work increased 2,500 to 489,900 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work increased 1,700 to 217,800.

The participation rate jumped to 65.5 percent - beating forecasts for 65.1 percent and up from the upwardly revised 65.2 percent a month earlier (originally 65.1 percent).

Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 9.8 million hours (0.6 percent) to 1,740.9 million hours.

The labor force underemployment rate decreased 0.2 points to 8.3 percent, while the underutilization rate decreased by 0.3 points to 13.7 percent.