Australia added 32.2k jobs in March, falling short of expectations for a 41.2k increase. The composition of gains was relatively balanced with 15k full-time and 17.2k part-time positions added.
Unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.1% from 4.0%, coming in better than the expected 4.2%. The modest rise in the jobless rate was largely due to a higher participation rate, which increased from 66.7 to 66.8%.
A potential sign of underlying weakness came from a -0.3% mom decline in total monthly hours worked, the second consecutive monthly drop. But that could be attributed partly to weather disruptions linked to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
