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Unemployment up as full time work falls

Unemployment up as full time work falls

Unemployment has pushed back up after a sharp drop in the number of people with full time work through April.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported this morning that the national unemployment lifted to 6.2 per cent, a 0.1 percentage point lift from March.

It was driven by a 21,900 fall in the number of full time workers. Part time workers, however, increased by 19,000.

The fall in the number of people with a job led to a 7,000 increased in the total number of unemployed people which now stands at 769,500.

There was a fall in the participation rate, suggesting that the jobless rate would have gone up further if not for people giving up the search for work.

The WA unemployment rate lifted backed up to 5.7 per cent after a surprise fall to 5.5 per cent in March.

The total number of people with a job in WA fell by almost 11,000 to stand at its lowest number this year.

The male unemployment rate in WA lifted to 5.8 per cent, its highest level since the depths of the Global Financial Crisis in 2009.

That suggests the loss of jobs in the mining sector is now feeding into the overall unemployment rate.

Elsewhere, unemployment lifted in NSW (to 6 per cent), Queensland (6.7 per cent), South Australia (7.1 per cent), the Northern Territory (4.5 per cent) and Tasmania (to 7.3 per cent).

It was flat in Victoria at 6.2 per cent and the ACT at 4.3 per cent.