Aussie employment hikes, jobless rate milder than expected

July had seen Australian employment advancing higher, surpassing analysts’ forecasts. However, the increase was still insufficient to neutralize the bloating numbers of job seekers as the country’s unemployment rate hit a 22-year peak.

The land down under monitored its employment to have jumped by 114,700 new jobs, surpassing a 40,000 increase expected as large portions of the economy resumed operations. This followed after the country had recorded 210,800 new jobs in June, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.

The jump seen last month came as the number of unemployed people, people available to work, and job seekers breached one million for the first time ever, the data showed.

As the country’s participation rate advanced by 64.7%, the jobless rate soared to 7.5%. This came sharper than the 7.4% record monitored in June. While it placed below the 7.8% forecast, it still stands as the sharpest reading since 1998.