Sydney - Unemployment in Australia rose to 4.3 per cent in September from 4.1 per cent in August, official figures released Thursday showed.

Full-time employment fell by 15,500, while part-time employment jumped by 18,000 - evidence that employers were both laying off staff and cutting full-time employees in favour of part-timers.

Katie Dean, an economist with ANZ bank, said unemployment was a lagging indicator because companies were reluctant to lay off staff even as the economy slowed.

"Employment is normally one of the last indicators to turn around," she said. "Generally firms are more than willing to hold on to their employees until they absolutely necessarily have to make job cuts." (dpa)