The unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.7 percent in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - higher than expectations for 3.5 percent, which would have been unchanged from December.
The Australian economy lost 11,500 jobs last month, badly missing expectations for an increase of 20,000 after shedding 14,600 in the previous month.
Full-time employment was down 43,300 jobs after climbing 17,600 a month earlier.
The participation rate was 66.5, missing forecasts for 66.6 - which would have been unchanged.
