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Australia's Unemployment Rate Holds Steady at 4.4% in June

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Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained flat at 4.4% in June compared with the previous month, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

The consensus forecast was also for 4.4%, according to Trading Economics.

The total number of employed people increased by 76,300, bringing the total to 14.8 million.

"In June, we recorded a 76,000 person rise in employment, driven by a 47,000 person rise in part-time employment," said Sean Crick, the bureau's head of labor statistics.

The participation rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 67% compared with the previous month. The underemployment rate, which refers to the share of workers who want and are available to work additional hours, inched up to 6.5% in June from 6.3% in May.

The employment-to-population ratio rose 0.3 percentage points to 64%, the report said. Monthly hours worked across all jobs increased by 5 million hours to 2.01 billion hours in June.

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