Australian unemployment rate steady at 5.3 per cent

Australian employers hired more workers in March, keeping the unemployment rate at almost half the level of the US and Europe and underscoring central bank Governor Glenn Stevens' decision to boost borrowing costs.

The number of people employed gained 19,600 from February, when it fell a revised 4700. The jobless rate held at 5.3 per cent, compared to 7.3 per cent in New Zealand, 9.7 per cent in the US and 10 per cent in the European Union.

Stevens has increased the benchmark lending rate five times in six meetings to prevent a jobs boom from stoking inflation as demand for skilled workers jumps at companies such as BHP Billiton and Chevron.

- BLOOMBERG