SYDNEY: Australian unemployment hit a near two-and-a-half-year low in March, sending the Aussie dollar to a new record high, as data Thursday showed a surprise drop in unemployment.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said seasonally adjusted unemployment fell 0.1 percentage points last month to 4.9 percent, with an extra 37,800 jobs created.
The figures mean 11.457 million people were in work last month, exceeding forecasts.
Analysts had expected the rate to hold steady at 5.0 percent and flagged just 24,000 extra jobs.
It is the lowest jobless rate seen in Australia since December 2008, when the global crisis was just starting to take hold.
Treasurer Wayne Swan said Australia's employment record was "quite stunning", with more than 300,000 new jobs created in the past year alone.
"While natural disasters have taken a toll on the country and the budget, it's great to see some typical Aussie resilience coming through in these jobs numbers," said Swan.
"An unemployment rate with a '4' in front of it reinforces why Australia's economy is the envy of the developed world."
The Australian dollar, which has this week hit several new highs against the greenback, hit a new post-float record on the data, spiking at $1.0478 from $1.0425 ahead of the news, before easing back slightly.
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