By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Australia's jobless rate dipped to the lowest level in six years in July and full-time jobs jumped, a solid result that supported hopes for an eventual revival in long-lagging wages growth.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released on Thursday showed unemployment dipped to 5.3 percent from 5.4 percent in June, having stayed in a 5.4-5.6 percent band since mid-2017.
The participation rate eased to 65.5 percent from record-highs of 65.8 percent earlier this year.
Less encouragingly, overall jobs fell by 3,900 in July, confounding expectations for a gain of 15,000 to follow on from an upwardly revised 58,300 surge in June.
July's drop was entirely led by part-time jobs which slipped by 23,200 while full-time jobs jumped 19,300.
"The fall in employment is not worth losing sleep over," said Paul Dales, chief economist at Capital Economics. "Jobs growth remains healthy enough and the unemployment rate has continued to edge lower."
Annual jobs growth of 2.4 percent was still well ahead of the U.S. pace of job creation of 1.6 percent.
"The bigger issue is that structural changes in the economy mean that even a much lower unemployment rate probably won't generate the rise in wage growth that the RBA is banking on to boost underlying price inflation," Dales added.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has held rates at a record low 1.5 percent for almost two years awaiting a revival in consumer prices and further falls in unemployment.
Markets imply scant chance of a move until 2020, with interbank futures 0#YIB: only showing a 50-50 chance of a hike by Christmas next year.
Data out on Wednesday showed wage growth crawled near record lows last quarter despite a surge in jobs since early last year, an outcome that risks restraining consumer spending and inflation. trend of more part-time and casual jobs in the economy is one reason for slow wage growth, analysts say.