Australian employment jumps 60,600 in May, jobless holds at 3.9%

SYDNEY, June 16 (Reuters) – Australian employment rebounded strongly in May while the jobless rate held at 50-year lows as more people went looking for work, an encouraging sign the economy can withstand the higher interest rates needed to contain runaway inflation.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed net employment surged 60,600 in May from April, when it edged up just 4,000. That far surpassed market forecasts of a 25,000 rise and brought gains for the year to a heady 386,100.

The jobless rate held at 3.9% in May, when analysts had looked for a dip to 3.8%, but only because the participation rate unexpectedly jumped to a record high of 66.7%.

(Reporting by Wayne ColeEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

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