SYDNEY, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The Australian economy added 50,900 jobs in June, about three times that of economists' estimates, while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.4 percent, latest official figures showed Thursday.
The number of new jobs was highlighted by the addition of 41,200 full-time positions, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics statement on Thursday.
The gain in employment was the largest since November, bringing "an end to the soft patch since January" and was mostly due to the rise in the full-time positions rather than the addition of 9,700 part-time positions to the economy, economic consultancy Capital Economics' chief Australia and New Zealand economist Paul Dales wrote in an analysis.
The "bulk of the evidence from other sources suggests that employment growth will remain solid over the coming months" but at this point, the unemployment rate was not low enough to prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia to decide that its 1.5-percent interest rate needs to rise soon, said Dales.
