() - The unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.9 percent in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – exceeding forecasts for 5.0 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous month.

Australia added 37,800 total jobs in March to 11,457,100 – well above expectations for 24,000 new jobs following the surprise loss of 10,100 jobs in February.

Full-time employment was up 32,100 to 8,105,600 in February after adding a revised 50,400 in February, the data showed. Part-time employment climbed 5,700 to 3,351,500 after shedding a revised 59,000 in the previous month.

The participation rate was 65.8 percent, slightly above expectations for an unchanged mark of 65.7 percent.

The male unemployment rate decreased 0.3 points to 4.5 percent and the female unemployment rate increased 0.1 point to 5.4 percent. Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 13.1 million hours to 1,618.3 million hours.

Unemployment decreased 10,200 or 1.7 percent to 592,900, the data showed. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased 3,100 to 414,600, while the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased 7,100 to 178,300.

Also on Thursday, an index measuring construction activity in Australia declined sharply in March, the Australian Industry Group said on Thursday, coming in at 39.4. Down 5.2 points from 44.6 in February, the index declined for the 10th consecutive month. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 signifies contraction.

All four industry sub-sectors were down, led by a 15.7 percent plunge in apartment construction to 30.4 points.

Upon the release of the data, the Australian currency spiked up against its major counterparts, trading at a multi-year high of 1.0484 against the U.S. dollar and 89.47 against the yen. Also, the aussie rose to a six-day high of 1.3659 versus the euro and a two-day high of 1.3493 against the kiwi.

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