CANBERRA, June 13, 2024 (BSS/Xinhua) - Australia's unemployment rate fell slightly in May, official figures have revealed.

 According to labor force data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, the official unemployment rate declined from 4.1 percent in April to 4.0 percent in May.

 The Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported that the fall was in line with economists' expectations.

 The ABS attributed the decline to employment rising by 40,000 people between April and May and unemployment falling by 9,000 people in the same period.

 "In April we saw more unemployed people than usual waiting to start work. Some of the fall in unemployment and rise in employment in May reflects these people starting or returning to their jobs," Bjorn Jarvis from the ABS said in a statement.

 "There are now almost 600,000 unemployed people, however, that is still nearly 110,000 fewer people than in March 2020, just before the pandemic."
 Despite the rise in employment, the total number of hours worked by Australians fell by 0.5 percent between April and May.

 Jarvis said the reduction in hours reflected an increased number of people taking time off work due to illness.

 "Similar to May 2023, around 4.2 percent of people worked fewer hours because they were sick, compared with the pre-pandemic average for May of 3.5 percent," he said.

 The participation rate, which measures the portion of the working-age population who are either employed or actively looking for work, remained steady at 66.8 percent.