Unemployment dipped in February - before the coronavirus pandemic really hit.Credit:Michelle Mossop
Full-time employment was up by 6700,while part-time lifted by 20,000.
There was also a drop of 26,400 in the number of people looking for employment.
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Combined,it took the jobless rate down from 5.3 per cent to 5.1 per cent.
Markets had been expecting the jobless rate to hold steady at 5.3 per cent. Economists believe unemployment will soon start to surge as businesses collapse in response to the restrictions put in place because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Around the country,the biggest increases in employment were in Queensland (by 14,300) and Western Australia (10,900). Employment actually fell by 8800 in Victoria.
NSW's unemployment rate lifted by 0.1 percentage point to 4.6 per cent and in South Australia to 5.8 per cent. It fell sharply by 0.8 percentage points in Tasmania to 5 per cent although half of this was due to a drop in the participation rate.