Australia Oct employment soars, jobless rate ticks up

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday showed employment escalated by a solid 178,800 in October, after slipping in September. Economists polled by Reuters were predicting a fall of 30,000 with the unemployment rate rising to 7.2%.

Australian jobs surged past all expectations in October, though the unemployment rate still ticked up to 7.0% as more people went out looking for work. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday showed employment escalated by a solid 178,800 in October, after slipping in September.

Economists polled by Reuters were predicting a fall of 30,000 with the unemployment rate rising to 7.2%. "This strong increase means that employment in October was only 1.7% below March, and reflects a large flow of people from outside the labour force back into employment," Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said.

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