Australia Unemployment Rate Steady At 4.1%

(RTTNews) - The unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - in line with expectations and unchanged from the January reading.

But the Australian economy lost 52,800 jobs last month, the bureau said, well shy of expectations for an increase of 30,800 jobs following the addition of 44,000 in January.

Full-time employment was down 35,700 jobs following the addition of 54,100 a month earlier.

The participation rate was 66.8 percent, again missing forecasts for 67.3 percent - which would have been unchanged from the previous month.