It appears increasingly unlikely that unemployment which reach the pessimistic Federal Budget forecast of 8.5%.

The national unemployment rate was unchanged in July, remaining at the 5.8% level reached in June, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Once again, this was a significantly better result than that predicted by economists, who forecast a jobless rate of 6.0% for July.

One reason that employment levels is not falling as predicted is the shift by some from full-time to part-time employment.