SYDNEY Australia employment handily beat expectations for a second straight month in June, while the jobless rate stayed near 50-year lows in a sign the labour market remained drum-tight and pushing the local dollar higher.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed net employment rose by 32,600 in June from May, when they surged by a startlingly strong 76,600. Market forecasts had been for an increase of 15,000.

The jobless rate held at a downwardly revised 3.5%, when analysts had expected 3.6%, leaving it just above the 3.4% trough from October last year.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)