Sydney: Australia`s unemployment rate edged up to 6.2 percent in April, official figures showed on Thursday, in a widely expected increase reflecting the nation`s economic wobbles as it moves away from its dependence on mining.
Some 2,900 positions were lost last month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data. Full-time roles fell by 21,900 while 19,000 part-time jobs were added.
The seasonally adjusted April data matched analysts` expectations, although economists had forecast 4,000 jobs to be added to the economy.
The Australian dollar slipped a quarter of a US cent to 79.25 US cents after the data release before rising to 79.70 US cents.
"It was largely as expected," RBC Capital Markets economist Michael Turner told AFP.
"Unemployment`s still gyrating around 6.1 (percent) to 6.3... unemployment growth is still reasonably modest and barely enough to keep up with the population growth."
The rise in the jobless rate from 6.1 percent in March came two days after the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed the cash rate by 25 basis points to a new record-low of 2.0 percent to stimulate economic growth.
The economy has struggled to fill the gap left by the end of an unprecedented boom in mining investment, which has helped it avoid a recession for more than two decades.
Slowing growth in China, Australia`s largest trading partner, as well as recent plunges in commodity prices have weighed on the resources-driven economy.
The rocky transition away from mining-led expansion and robust growth in the labour force has seen the unemployment rate slowly increase over the past year, last peaking at a revised 6.3 percent in January -- a more than 11-year high.
