Canberra, Aug 15 : Australia's unemployment rate has risen to its highest level in over two years, according to official data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.2 per cent in July - up from 4.1 per cent in June and the equal-highest figure since November 2021, the ABS data revealed.

Economists broadly expected the unemployment rate to remain steady at 4.1 per cent in July, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The ABS said the total number of employed Australians increased by 58,200 between June and July to 14.46 million but that the number of unemployed people grew by 23,900 in the same period to 637,100 - the highest since November 2021.

As a result, the participation rate, which measures the proportion of working-age Australians who are either employed or actively looking for work, rose from 66.9 per cent in June to a record high of 67.1 per cent in July.

"The employment-to-population ratio rose by 0.1 percentage point to 64.3 per cent, indicating employment growth was faster than population growth and was just below the historical high of 64.4 per cent in November 2023," Kate Lamb, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said in a statement.

"The record high participation rate and near record high employment-to-population ratio show that there continues to be a high number of people in jobs, and looking for and finding jobs."

She said 4.2 per cent of employed Australians worked reduced hours in July due to illness, similar to the levels in May and June and above the five-year pre-COVID July average of 3.6 per cent.

/IANS