STORY: Australian unemployment falls to 3.9 pct 
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 12, 2024
DATELINE: Dec. 12, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:07
LOCATION: Canberra 
CATEGORY: ECONOMY 

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Australians in different professions
2. Various of supermarket
3. Various of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) building

STORYLINE:

Australia's unemployment rate fell in November, defying the expectations of economists, official data has revealed.

According to monthly labor force figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, the official unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in November, down from 4.1 percent in October and the lowest figure since March.

News Corp Australia newspapers reported that economists had expected unemployment to rise to 4.2 percent.

Australia's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), in November said it expected unemployment to rise to 4.3 percent by the end of 2024.

However, the ABS said on Thursday that the number of employed Australians rose by 35,600 between October and November while the number of unemployed people fell by 27,000 in the same period.

The economy added 52,600 full-time jobs between October and November, the ABS said, which was partially offset by a fall in part-time employment of 17,000.

"In November we saw a higher than usual number of people moving into employment who were unemployed and waiting to start work in October. This contributed to the rise in employment and fall in unemployment," David Taylor, head of labor statistics at the ABS, said in a statement.

Responding to the data, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement posted on social media that the government's policies are helping achieve a soft landing in the economy.

The participation rate, which measures the proportion of the working-age population who are either employed or actively looking for work, fell slightly from 67.1 percent in October to 67.0 percent in November.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Canberra.
(XHTV)