Australian unemployment rate clocks in at 5.7 per cent after ABS revises older figure THE jobless rate stayed steady at 5.7 per cent in October - but only after the previous month's figures were revised higher. Official figures released late this morning reveal September's jobless rate was 5.7 per cent. It was previously stated as 5.6 per cent. Last month, the total number of people with jobs rose 1100 to 11.64 million, according to the seasonally adjusted figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The figures were weaker than economists had expected. As a result, the Australian dollar fell in the minutes after they were released, sliding about a third of a US cent to US94.87c. The median forecast for the unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent in October - in line with the actual result. But economists had forecast total employment growth of 5000 - more than the 1100 jobs created. The jobless rate climbed despite the rise in the workforce because more people joined the hunt for employment. Full-time employment fell 27,900 to 8.095 million in October and part-time employment was up 28,900 to 3.545 million. The October participation rate was 64.8 per cent, steady compared to September. The participation rate is the proportion of the population that have a job, are looking for work or ready to start work. Employed people in Australia worked a total of 1.648 billion hours in October, the ABS figures show. That was up by 6.191 million or 0.4 per cent from the 1.642 billion hours worked in September. The average amount of time worked by each employee rose to 141 hours and 38 minutes across the month, from 141 hours and 7 minutes. It was an increase of 31 minutes or 1 per cent. Compared with October last year, the average time worked per employee rose by 42 minutes or 1.2 per cent.