Australia’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% in March, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) at the start of Asian trading on Thursday, April 16. This figure was unchanged from February’s reading and in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate fell slightly to 66.8% from 66.9%.

The Australian economy added 17,900 jobs in March, bringing the total number of employed individuals to 14,767,700. This follows the addition of approximately 49,000 jobs in February, exceeding expectations of around 19,000 new jobs.