Australia’s unemployment rate drops; dollar rises to 14-month high

Australian jobless rate posts surprising drop

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s unemployment rate surprisingly dropped to 5.7 percent in September, the government said Thursday, news that caused the Australian dollar to surge to a 14-month high.

Economists had forecast a rise to 6 percent, but the Australian Bureau of Statistics said 40,600 new jobs were created last month.

The Australian dollar rose almost a whole cent to 90.10 U.S. cents on the news.

The jobless rate information comes two days after the Reserve Bank of Australia raised the official interest rate to 3.25 percent, becoming the first major country to raise interest rates since the onset of the financial crisis last year.

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens said the bank raised the rate from a 49-year low of 3.0 percent because the basis for keeping it at an “emergency” level had passed.

Australia’s decision boosted markets across the globe.