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Australian employment growth surged in March, sweeping aside lingering fears of a sharp slowdown in the economy in the first quarter and Buy nike running shoes onlinesuggesting an interest rate increase may be closer than currently thought.

The Australian dollar surged to a fresh post-float high of US$1.0481, climbing half a U.S. cent immediately after the release of the data. Employment rose 37,800 compared with an expected increase of 24,000 by economists.

Unemployment fell to a lower-than-expected seasonally adjusted 4.9% in March from 5.0% in February, while economists expected unemployment to remain at 5.0%. The jobless rate is now at its lowest rate since December 2008. The number of people in full-time work rose 32,100, while the number of people in part-time work rose 5,700, the bureau said.

The fall in unemployment comes despite a string devastating natural disasters in the first quarter, which are expected to slow the economy sharply. The strong result also defies the soaring Australian dollar, which is taking a hefty toll on non-mining exporters. cheap nike mens acg sandals 2011

"This is a real return to the heady days of 2010 when employment growth was really rocketing along," said Brian Redican, an economist at Macquarie.

Mr. Redican added that much of the growth was Queensland-based, showing the state is rebounding from flooding, which affected much of the region as a deluge swamped the central business district of Brisbane.

"The Reserve Bank of Australia won't be panicking, it will just give them more reassurance that the economy is hanging together in a very good shape and the current policy stance is completely justified," he added.

The RBA left interest rates on hold on Tuesday, citing an absence of immediate inflation risks and pointing to the high Australian dollar as a headwind for the economy.

The cash rate has been left at 4.75% since November, with most economists expecting it to remain sidelined until the second half of the year. buy Reebok ZigTechThe high Australian dollar could well remain a restraint on growth.

"There's just no ceiling in sight for the Australian dollar with further gains likely, said RBS FX strategist Greg Gibbs. "There's no obvious near-term resistance level, so the risk is it does continue to grind higher."