Employment in Australia rose by 90,000 people in November compared to October, a 0.7% increase, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday. Still, employment remained down by 83,100 jobs year over year, or 0.6%.

Overall, total employment in Australia was nearly 12.9 million people in November, according to the ABS.

The continued recovery shows a strengthening of the Victoria labour market, said Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS.

“Employment in Victoria increased by 74,000 people in November, following last month’s increase of 82,000 people,” Jarvis said. “Hours worked in Victoria also recovered strongly again, increasing by 5.2%, following an increase of 5.6% in October.”

He noted the gap between Victoria and the rest of Australia has narrowed considerably since September.

Australia’s unemployment rate was 6.8% in November, down from 7.0% in October.

The country’s participation rate rose to 66.1% in November from 65.8% in October.