Australian unemployment rate falls to 5.6% in September

Australia's unemployment rate dropped to a four-month low of 5.6 percent in September, figures released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed. The number of people employed rose by 9,100 to 11.65 million in the month on a seasonally adjusted basis, with growth in both full- time employment and part-time employment, the ABS reported. Full-time positions rose 5,000 to 8.13 million while part-time jobs were up 4,100 to 3.51 million in this period. The number of people unemployed fell by 14,700 to 697,100 in September, the ABS said. The median forecast for the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent for the month, with total employment growth of 15,000, according to a survey of 15 market economists by the Australian Associated Press (AAP). The ABS also reported a labor force participation rate of 64.9 percent for September, down from 65.0 percent in August. The participation rate is the proportion of the population that have a job, are looking for work or ready to start work.