Australian unemployment rate falls to 4.0 pct

CANBERRA, June 13: Australias unemployment rate fell slightly in May, official figures have revealed.
 According to labor force data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, the official unemployment rate declined from 4.1 percent in April to 4.0 percent in May.
The Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported that the fall was in line with economists expectations.
The ABS attributed the decline to employment rising by 40,000 people between April and May and unemployment falling by 9,000 people in the same period.
"In April we saw more unemployed people than usual waiting to start work. Some of the fall in unemployment and rise in employment in May reflects these people starting or returning to their jobs," Bjorn Jarvis from the ABS said in a statement. "There are now almost 600,000 unemployed people, however, that is still nearly 110,000 fewer people than in March 2020, just before the pandemic."    —Xinhua