Asia and South Pacific February 2006

• Australia’s 5.1-percent December unemployment rate was a 0.1-percent gain from the previous month. The rate was unchanged from December 2004.
  
  
• Hong Kong’s jobless rate remained at 5.3 percent for the October to December period, which is the same as the previous three-month period.
  
  
• Japan’s November unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percent to 4.6 percent compared to the previous month and increased by the same percentage from November 2004.