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AU unemployment rate driven down by falling participation, even as jobs growth slows to a trickle
Australia's unemployment rate has edged lower to 3.6 per cent, but only because fewer Australians have been looking for work. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates that just 6,700 jobs were created last month, which is not enough to keep up with the growth in Australia's working-age population. However, the participation rate — which measures the proportion of people aged 15 and over either in work or actively looking for it — dropped sharply from 67 per cent to 66.7 per cent, pushing unemployment lower. "The fall in the unemployment rate in September mainly reflected a higher proportion of ... (full story)