The jobless rate unexpectedly rose to 5.4 per cent in October, lessening the need for a further immediate rise in interest rates, new official data released today suggest.
Economists had expected the unemployment rate to fall to a seasonally adjusted 5.0 per cent after holding at 5.1 per cent in the previous two months.
The rise reflected a greater number people looking for work and officially becoming classified as unemployed.
The number of people joining the workforce in October rose by 29,700, slightly more than 20,000 predicted by economists.
Those in full-time employment dropped by 14,100, but the number of people in part-time employment grew by 43,800.
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The number of people in work or looking for employment jumped to 65.9 per cent, up from 65.6 per cent.
Victoria saw the largest rise in unemployment, rising to 5.6 per cent from 5.3 per cent.
In Queensland the rate rose to 5.6 per cent from 5.4 per cent, in South Australia it increased to 5.7 per cent from 5.5 per cent and in NSW it moved up to 5.4 per cent from 5.3 per cent.
In Western Australia, the rate also increased, to 4.7 per cent from 4.6 per cent. However, the jobless rate in Tasmania fell to 5.1 per cent from 5.2 per cent, and in the ACT it declined to 3.0 per cent from 3.1 per cent, while in the Northern Territory it was unchanged at 3.1 per cent.
The federal government's mid-year budget review released on Tuesday forecast unemployment falling to 4.5 per cent in the coming 18 months as an additional 380,000 people join the workforce.
Employment growth was also ungraded to 2.5 per cent for the 2010/11 financial year in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, above a long term trend of 2.2 per cent.
Aggregate hours worked in October 2010 were 3.7 per cent higher than in October 2009.
Seasonally adjusted (million):
October September Year ago
Full-time employed 7.971 7.985 7.699
Part-time employed 3.385 3.341 3.281
Total employed 11.356 11.326 10.981
Unemployed (thousand) 646,500 614,400 669,200
Unemployment rate 5.4 pct 5.1 pct 5.7 pct
Participation rate 65.9 pct 65.6 pct 65.3 pct
Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate state by state:
Oct Sept Year ago
NSW 5.4 pct 5.3 pct 6.1 pct
Vic 5.6 pct 5.3 pct 5.7 pct
Qld 5.6 pct 5.4 pct 6.0 pct
SA 5.7 pct 5.5 pct 5.2 pct
WA 4.7 pct 4.6 pct 5.0 pct
Tas 5.1 pct 5.2 pct 5.5 pct
