Australia’s economy shed 6,600 jobs last month as employers responded to weak demand by trimming staff numbers. The unemployment rate in March was 3.8%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced on Thursday, rising from February’s 3.7%. A total of 27,900 full-time jobs were added in March, but the economy shed 34,500 part-time roles. The net 6,600 job loss compared with a gain of 10,000 positions economists had tipped. This tally has been volatile in recent months, including a surprising 116,500 leap in employment in February. The participation rate dropped 0.1 percentage points to 66.6%, while total hours worked edged 1m higher to 1.93bn. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup “The labour market remained relatively tight in March, with an employment-to-population ratio and participation rate still close to their record highs in November 2023,” said Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS. “While they have both fallen by 0.4 percentage points since then, they continue to be much higher than their pre-pandemic levels.” Both the Reserve Bank of Australia and Treasury had predicted the unemployment rate would rise modestly as the effect of 13 official interest rate rises is...