Australia's unemployment rate has bounced back to six per cent, with some economists flagging it could climb higher.
The unemployment rate rose in June from a revised 5.9 per cent for May, largely because of an increase in the number of people looking for work.
The jobless rate is now back where it was at the start of the year when it reached its highest point in a decade.
While almost 16,000 extra people found jobs in June, that was offset by a 0.1 per rise in the participation rate, which measures the percentage of the population either in work or looking for work, to 64.7 per cent.
And the extra jobs were all part time, with full time employment down 3,800 for the month, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
While the increase in participation is generally seen as a good thing, economists say if the trend continues it could help push the unemployment rate higher.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver says the unemployment rate would currently be seven per cent if not for the progressive slide in participation since 2011.
He doesn't expect the unemployment rate to increase by much, though he says its unlikely to fall any time soon either.
"Our assessment remains that at six per cent, unemployment is at or close to its peak, but is unlikely to start drifting lower till next year," he said.
But JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman expects the unemployment rate to rise to around 6.2 or 6.3 per cent as jobs growth struggles to keep up with the increase in the size of the workforce due to the higher participation level and population growth.
"For quite a while we have had this theme where the participation rate has been falling and that has probably been flattening the unemployment rate," he said.
"If the participation rate has stabilised then it looks like this lack of genuine hiring appetite that we are seeing is going to translate to a higher unemployment rate."
ANZ senior economist Justin Fabo expects the jobless rate to stay around six per cent for the next year or so, with job cuts in the resources sector and by companies trimming costs offsetting the creation of positions in the building industry.
"The construction industry ... is likely to continue to be a bright spot for job generation as building activity strengthens further and because this industry is relatively labour intensive," he said.
On the other side of the coin, Commonwealth Bank senior economist Michael Workman believes the unemployment rate has hit its peak and expects jobs growth to rise towards 20,000 per month by the end of 2014.
"It still looks like we're going to get higher jobs growth in coming months and down the track we think the numbers toward the end of the year will be a lot healthier," he said.
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