Low interest rates and sluggish wages growth have helped Australia's jobless rate hit its lowest level in a year.
In a surprise result, the unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 6.0 per cent May, from a downwardly revised 6.1 per cent in April.
The result was the lowest monthly jobless rate since May 2014, aided by a surge in part-time jobs.
St George senior economist Janu Chan said a key factor for the strong figures was probably sluggish wages growth.
On an annualised basis, wages increased just 2.3 per cent in the three months to March, the lowest year-on-year rise since records began in 1998.
"Wage growth is very weak so that just gives greater scope for job hiring, and it could mean there's a little bit more flexibility in the labour market than in much earlier years," Ms Chan said.
CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said low interest rates and strong housing activity were likely to also be supporting jobs.
"It's low rates that is supporting the business profile overall, but definitely the lift in housing activity is supporting an array of sectors and growth," Mr Sebastian said.
According to Thursday's data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, full-time employment rose 14,700 while part-time employment jumped by 27,300.
The unemployment rate fell across all states except for South Australia where it rose 0.4 per cent, to 7.6 per cent.
The participation rate, which refers to the number of people that have a job, are looking for work or are ready to start work, was steady at 64.7 per cent.
However, the youth unemployment rate remains high for those aged between 15 and 19.
Despite a one per cent fall in May to 19.6 per cent, Mr Sebastian said youth unemployment was well above its decade average of around 15 per cent.
"It's certainly on the high side," Mr Sebastian said.
"The improvement in the labour market is still in its early stage and I think it may be easier for potential employees that are skilled and already have work experience to find work."
Meanwhile, JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman doesn't expect the national unemployment rate will hit the 6.5 per cent forecast by some economists.
The stronger-than-expected jobs figures would encourage the Reserve Bank to hold off on cutting the cash rate again for a while, he added.
"Thing aren't deteriorating quite as quickly that would warrant further easing, especially as they've cut by 50 basis points this year."
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