Australia’s March unemployment rate steady at record low 4%, despite expectations of fall

Australia’s unemployment rate for March was the equal lowest on record at 4%. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Australia’s jobless rate remained steadily near its lowest level in almost half a century, with youth unemployment and underemployment levels continuing their recent declines.

The economy added more than 20,000 full-time positions in March while shedding fewer than 3000 part-time jobs, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 4.0%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.