Australian employers slashed their workforces by the most on record last month amid a government lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus, sending the currency lower.
Employment slumped by 594,300 in April, exceeding the drop of 575,000 forecast by economists, data from the statistics bureau showed in Sydney Thursday. Unemployment rose just 1 percentage point to 6.2%, well below the estimated 8.2%, contained by a plunge in labor-force participation.
