SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's official statistician is making changes to employment figures for the past three months that, on the face of it, would show far fewer jobs created in August than first reported.

The jobs numbers are closely tracked in financial markets and billions of dollars change hands depending on whether the results beat or miss forecasts.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday said it would restate employment figures to account for an absence of seasonal patterns usually seen in July, August and September.

The September data are due on Thursday and analysts had been expecting a sizable fall of 30,000 in seasonally adjusted employment as statistical payback for a record 121,000 increase in August. The August figure had been so far above expectations that analysts had doubted its credibility.