Australia's January jobless rate jumps to 12-year high of 6.4%

Sydney

AUSTRALIA'S unemployment rate jumped to a more than 12-year high of 6.4 per cent in January, official data showed on Thursday, providing further ammunition for the central bank to cut interest rates.

Economists had been expecting a rise to 6.2 per cent from December's 6.1 per cent but with the number of people employed falling by 12,200, it was worse than expected, at a level not seen since August 2002.