The labour market remained a story of strength in May, with a further 26,900 jobs created over the month, enough to push the unemployment rate to its lowest since January.
The increase in employment takes total job creation since August 2009 to 283,600, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Unemployment fell to a seasonally adjusted 5.2% in May from 5.4% in April. The number of people in full-time work rose 36,400, while the number in part-time work fell 9,400.
The seasonally adjusted workforce participation rate fell to 65.1% in May from 65.2% in April. Aggregate monthly hours worked rose 2.9% in May from April to 1.57bn hours.