Australia's labor market added fewer jobs than expected in March. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the employment change index rose by 4.9 thousand during the period to fall below expectations of 20.3 thousand. While the previous reading was revised negatively, with the index falling by 6.3K.
The number of full-time jobs was the main obstacle behind slower job growth, with jobs falling 19.9K to 8.51M. While part-time jobs added 24.8 thousand to 3.9 million.
The unemployment rate stabilized at 5.5% while the participation rate in the sector fell from 65.7% to 65.5%.
