Australia August 2014 Job Report – The largest monthly increase in jobs on record

The largest monthly increase in jobs on record has pushed the unemployment rate back down to 6.1 per cent.

An estimated 121,000 jobs were added in August, which is well ahead of any previous monthly jobs gain recorded in ABS figures that go back to 1978.

Economists had expected the unemployment rate to fall back from a 12-year high of 6.4 per cent reached in July with many, including the Reserve Bank, viewing that month’s steep rise with scepticism and believing it may be a statistical quirk.

However, most were not expecting such a large decline – the median forecast was for just 15,000 jobs to be added and unemployment to sit at 6.3 per cent.

The Bureau of Statistics estimates that 121,000 jobs were added last month, but only 14,300 of them were full-time, with the remainder part-time positions.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Largest monthly jobs gain on record drives unemployment down – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).