Australia Jobless Rate Falls To 4.2% In December

(RTTNews) - The unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.2 percent in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - beating handily expectations for 4.5 percent and down from 4.6 percent in November.

The Australian economy added 64,800 jobs last month, blowing away forecasts for an increase of 43,300 following the addition of 366,100 in November.

Full-time employment increased by 41,500 jobs, while part-time was up 23,300 jobs.

The participation rate was 66.1 percent - unchanged from the previous month but shy of expectations for 66.2 percent.