A jobless man sits on the sidewalk asking for money as people walk past in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 12, 2009. Analysts had tipped a jobless rate of 5.9 per cent. -- PHOTO: AP
MELBOURNE - AUSTRALIA'S unemployment rate edged up 0.1 points to 5.8 per cent in June as the jobs market remained resilient despite the global downturn, official figures showed on Thursday.
Analysts had tipped a jobless rate of 5.9 per cent but the Australian Bureau of Statistics said part-time employment defied expectations to rise by 400 positions over the month. Full-time jobs declined by 21,900.
'This is a tremendous result,' Commsec chief economist Craig James told Sky Business.
'The fact that we've had this global financial crisis, most economies around the world are in recession and unemployment rates in other parts of the world up around 9.0-9.5 per cent.' -- AFP
