The Australian government says the economy is not yet growing fast enough to stop stop unemployment rising.
The jobless rate rose to 5.8% in October from September's 5.7%, despite the number of people employed rising by 24,500.
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the result, which represented an 11,100 rise in the number of unemployed Australians to 670,100, was in line with market expectations.
She says the government expects unemployment to continue to rise and peak at 6.75% in the middle of next year.
