Australia Posts Jobs Growth For 11 Straight Months

--Unemployment Rate At 5.6%; Participation Increases

     SYDNEY (MNI) - Labor-force survey for August published by the Australian

Bureau of Statistics on Thursday:

                                             August                         July

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                         (M/M, seasonally adjusted)   (M/M, seasonally adjusted)

                                                           +29,200 (revised from

Employed Persons                            +54,200                     +27,900)

                          +15,000 (range +10,000 to

MNI Consensus                              +21,000)

                                                           -20,000 (revised from

Full-time Employment                        +40,100                     -20,300)

                                                            +49,200(revised from

Part-time Employment                        +14,100                     +49,400)

Unemployment Rate                              5.6%           5.6% (no revision)

MNI Consensus            5.6%  (range 5.6% to 5.7%)

Participation Rate                            65.3%          65.1% (no revision)

MNI Consensus          65.1% (range 65.0% to 65.1%)

Unemployed Persons                           -1,100      0 (revised from +1,100)

Employment to

Population                                    61.6%          61.4% (no revision)

Underemployment Rate                           8.6%                   8.8% (May)

Underutilization Rate                         14.1%                  14.3% (May)

--MNI Sydney Bureau; tel: +61 2-9716-5467; email: sophia.rodrigues@marketnews.com

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