SYDNEY, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Australian employment data for January, released

by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

Seasonally adjusted Jan Dec Jan' 12

Unemployment rate (pct) 5.4 5.4 5.1

Employed (mln) 11.549 11.539 11.450

Unemployed 659,600 657,600 611,900

Participation rate (pct) 65.0 65.1 65.3

The employment rise of 10,400 was made up of a fall of 9,800 in full-time

employment and a rise of 20,200 in part-time employment.

Forecasts centred on a rise of 5,000 in employment, with the unemployment

rate at 5.5 percent, a Reuters poll showed.

For details, see the Australian Bureau of Statistics Web site at

www.abs.gov.au.

(Reporting by Ian Chua; Editing by John Mair)

Keywords: ECONOMY AUSTRALIA/JOBS

(ian.chua@thomsonreuters.com)(+61 2 9373 1871)(RM: ian.chua.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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