Finance news

Australia added the most workers in 14 months in January and the jobless rate unexpectedly declined, spurring investors to increase bets the central bank will extend an interest-rate pause.

Payrolls rose by 46,300 last month, the most since November 2010, after a revised drop in December of 35,600, the statistics bureau said in Sydney today. That compares with the median estimate for an increase of 10,000 in a Bloomberg News survey of 25 economists. The jobless rate fell to 5.1 percent.

Stocks fell as traders boosted the odds Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens will keep the benchmark borrowing cost unchanged March 6 after he unexpectedly paused at 4.25 percent rather than cut last week as resource investment drives growth. The central bank lowered the rate at back-to-back meetings last quarter as Europe