The Australian Bureau of Statistic figures show the jobless rate staying steady at 5.7 in October. Although full time employment fell by 27,900 jobs, part time work was up 28,900 across the country.

Across the states, the jobs market was mostly soft in October.

The jobless rate in NSW rose slightly to 5.9 per cent from 5.6 per cent, Victoria saw an increase to 5.9 per cent from 5.8 per cent, while in South Australia it was up .6 percentage points to 6.6 per cent, the second highest in the country.

Western Australia saw small growth, with its unemployment rate falling .3 percentage points to 4.3 per cent from 4.6 per cent

In the ACT, where the public sector is the dominant employer, the rate rose to 4.4 per cent from 4.2 per cent.

Tasmania surprised with a 0.3 percentage point fall to 7.9 per cent despite its soft local economy and was the only state to record a drop in unemployment.

Both Queensland and the Northern Territory were flat at 5.9 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively.

Youth unemployment (15-24 year old) also rose slightly this quarter, increasing .3 of a percent to 13.0% - the highest recorded since the June 2002 quarter