Unemployment rate holds steady at 6.2 per cent in October: ABS

AUSTRALIA’S unemployment rate held steady at 6.2 per cent in October, official figures on Thursday show.

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AUSTRALIA’S unemployment rate held steady at 6.2 per cent in October, official figures on Thursday show.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics last month admitted there were problems with its July and August employment data.

It has since taken another stab at calculating its data up to September 2014, revised using a new method, which it released on Tuesday.

The total number of people with jobs rose 24,100 to 11.592 million in October, seasonally adjusted.

Full-time employment rose 33,400 to 8.059 million and part-time employment was down 9,400 to 3.534 million.

The participation rate — those that have a job, are looking for work or are ready to start work — rose to 64.6 per cent, from 64.5 per cent in September.

Economists were expecting the unemployment rate to fall to 6.1 per cent in October, with 10,000 jobs added, according to an AAP survey of 11 economists.

STATE BY STATE UNEMPLOYMENT RATES IN OCTOBER

* NSW — 5.7% down from 5.9% in September

* Vic — 6.8% unchanged

* Qld — 7.0% up from 6.3%

* SA — 6.7% unchanged

* WA — 5.2% up from 5.0%

* Tas — 6.9% down from 7.6%

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (seasonally adjusted)

Originally published as Unemployment rate holds steady at 6.2 per cent in October: ABS