Australia sheds 65,000 jobs in December but unemployment rate remains at 3.9%

There was a net loss of 65,000 jobs in December, compared with market expectations of an additional 15,000, while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.9%, according the the ABS. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Australia’s jobless rate held steady in December but employers shed more than 100,000 full-time jobs as the impact of higher interest rates dragged on the economy.

The unemployment rate for the month was a seasonally adjusted 3.9%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday. That compared with economists’ forecast of 3.9% and the previously reported 3.9% rate for November.