Australia's jobless rate held at 5.8 percent for a third straight month in August, despite the number of people in work declining, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed Thursday.

The ABS said 27,100 jobs, seasonally adjusted, were lost in August, larger than the 15,000 predicted by economists. The number of people in full-time work dropped by a hefty 30,800.

The figures showed Australians were suffering the effects of the global recession, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

"There's a need to continue economic stimulus to support jobs during these difficult times," she said, adding the full impact of the global economic downturn on employment would take some time to show.

Gillard said the federal government anticipated that unemployment would continue to rise, in line with the forecast in its May budget which projected the jobless rate would be 8.25 percent by June next year.

In the meantime, the government would continue to provide economic stimulus.

"These figures are demonstrating that to call for an end to economic stimulus would be to pull the rug out from the Australian economy and to risk greater unemployment," she said.

Source:Xinhua