Australia's jobless rate fell to its lowest level since the global financial crisis Thursday, with the latest data showing a surprise drop in unemployment to 4.9 percent.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said seasonally adjusted unemployment fell 0.1 percentage points in March, with an extra 37,800 jobs created, meaning 11.457 million people were in work, exceeding forecasts.
Analysts had expected the rate to hold steady at 5.0 percent and flagged just 24,000 extra jobs.
It is the lowest jobless rate seen in Australia since December 2008, when the global crisis was just starting to take hold.
The Australian dollar smashed through a new post-float high on the data, touching US$1.0478 from $1.0425 ahead of the news, before easing back.
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