Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December increased to 3.9%, up 0.4% over the previous year, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

When compared to the prior month, the unemployment rate was unchanged.

The number of unemployed persons totalled 573,600, up 15.3% over the year and down 0.1% over the month.

By state, the Northern Territory saw the highest unemployment rate at 4.5% while New South Wales saw the lowest at 3.4%.

In trend terms, the unemployment rate stood at 3.8% in December, no change over the month but 0.3% over the year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis the total number of employed persons totalled 14,201,100, up 2.8% over the year but down 0.5% over the prior month.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs stood at 1.926 billion, up 1.2% over the year and down 0.5% over the month.

Australia’s labour force participation rate stood at 66.8% in December, up 0.1% over the year and down 0.4% over the month.