AUSTRALIA: The nation’s unemployment rate rose to...

AUSTRALIA: The nation’s unemployment rate rose to its highest level in nearly four years in January as recession threw thousands of more Australian workers out of work, the government said. The jobless rate climbed to 8.4% last month from 8.1% in December, the Statistics Bureau said. It was the highest level since March, 1987. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 6.1%. Despite the rise in the jobless rate, economists said the government was unlikely to panic and cut interest rates quickly to try to ease the pain of recession.