IN BRIEF (Page 14)

Australian firms hire more staff

Australian employers added more workers in March, keeping the unemployment rate at almost half the level of the US and Europe and underscoring central bank Governor Glenn Stevens' decision to boost borrowing costs.

The number of people employed gained 19,600 from February, when it fell a revised 4,700, the statistics bureau said in Sydney on Thursday. The jobless rate held at 5.3 percent, compared to 9.7 percent in the US and 10 percent in the European Union. Stevens has increased the benchmark lending rate five times in six meetings to prevent a jobs boom from stoking inflation as demand for skilled workers jumps at companies such as BHP Billiton Ltd and Chevron Corp.