SYDNEY: Australia's unemployment rate climbed to 5.8 percent in November as the nation's mining-fuelled boom fades, but analysts said it was unlikely to spark an interest rate cut.
The outcome was 0.1 percentage points higher than October and in line with expectations, with the number of unemployed increasing by 3,400.
The participation rate was steady at 64.8 percent, its lowest level since October 2006. The rate measures the proportion of the population who have a job or are actively seeking one, and is often interpreted as evidence of jobseekers giving up on looking for work.
Unemployment numbers are seen as a key indicator for the Reserve Bank of Australia as it considers monetary policy, but Commonwealth Bank economist Diana Mousina said the slight uptick was unlikely to spark another rate cut.
"We think the RBA is probably looking for the unemployment rate to peak at a little over six percent -- we don't think the data today will change the RBA's thinking in the near term, she said.
"We're expecting it to peak at six percent probably towards the end of this year, beginning of 2014 as mining employment starts to track downwards in Western Australia and in Queensland."
The RBA has cut interest rates by 225 basis points since November 2011 to help stimulate non-mining sectors of the economy, as a decade-long commodities investment boom unwinds.
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