Australia's employment jumps

Australian employment jumped past all expectations in January, shoving the jobless rate to a six-month low of 5.1 percent and lifting the local dollar half a cent as investors pared back expectations for a cut in interest rates any time soon. Thursday's figures from the government showed a net 46,300 jobs were created in January, well above forecasts for a 10,000 increase and offsetting a drop of 35,700 in December.
The drop in the jobless rate also confounded forecasts of a rise to 5.3 percent, and seemed to justify the optimism of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on the outlook for employment. The central bank cut rates by half a percentage point over November and December but disappointed some by leaving them unchanged at 4.25 percent at its February policy meeting. Thursday's figures showed jobs growth edged up 0.3 percent in January compared to the same month last year. There was no net employment growth at all in 2011, a complete reversal from 2010 when a massive 366,000 jobs were created.