Australia released the monthly unemployment report for the month of December last week.

According to official sources, the unemployment rate in Australia was seen rising to 5.5% in December.

This was higher than the forecasts that expected to see the unemployment rate steady at 5.4%.

The increase in the unemployment rate comes after staying stable at 5.4% for two months.

However, offsetting the increase in the unemployment rate was the higher, number of jobs added during the month.

Data showed that the Australian economy added 34,700 jobs during the month in December.

This beat expectations of an increase of just 13k jobs during the period.

Overall, the total number of jobs added rose to 12,440,800 in December.

Previous revisions to November’s payroll data showed an increase to 63,600 up from 61,600.

What to read from the result?

With the December data, the Australian economy was seen steadily adding jobs for 15 consecutive months.

It also marked the longest winning streak.

The participation rate, which showed the number of Australians in a job and seeking new work also rose to 65.7%.

The data suggests that the increase in the labor force participation rate could eventually signal a tighter job market in the economy.

Unemployment increased 20,500 to 730,600 during the month.

The number of unemployed rose to 9,900 while there was also an increase in the number of unemployed looking for part time work.

The strong labor market report has stoked expectations that the RBA could be looking to hike interest rates this year.

The odds for a rate hike in August increased although many economists expect that the RBA will stand pat on rates until the fourth quarter of this year.