Australia's unemployment rate fell sharply and unexpectedly in April signalling concerted economic policy stimulus over recent months may have garnered early and unusually strong traction.
The Australian economy created 27,300 jobs in April, with 49,100 full-time jobs churned out through the month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
It was the biggest one-month rise in employment since October 2008. Unemployment fell to 5.4% in April from 5.7% in March. Economists had expected a rise to a fresh 6-year high of 5.9% and that employment fell 25,000.
But the unexpected strength of the data is being viewed with a high level of suspicion. Anecdotal surveys of labour market demand have been weak for some time and economists still expect the unemployment rate to continue rising.
Treasurer Wayne Swan is expected to announce a sharp upward revision in the government's unemployment forecasts in Tuesday's 2009-10 budget, raising it from 7.0% by mid-2010 to more than 8%.
But for policy makers, the data could be viewed as early evidence that massive government spending and 425 basis points of interest rates since September 2008 is refiring the economy and helping to promote a shallow downturn.