Australia’s unemployment rate fell from a 10-month high to 5.2 per cent in September, official figures show.

The August figure was an unrevised 5.3 per cent.

Total employment rose 20,400 to 11.451 million in the month, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

The forecast was for total employment to have risen by 10,000 in September with the unemployment rate steady at 5.3 per cent, according to the median of 15 economists surveyed by AAP.

Full-time employment rose by 10,800 to 8.044 million in September and part-time employment was up 9,600 to 3.407 million.

The September participation rate was 65.6 per cent, steady compared with the unrevised 65.6 per cent in August.

The participation rate was forecast to be 65.6 per cent.

The ABS report also showed aggregate hours worked by employed people in Australia fell by 0.6 per cent in September, seasonally adjusted, following a rise of 0.3 per cent in August.

Aggregate hours worked in September 2011 were 1.3 per cent higher than in September 2010, compared with a rise of 3.6 per cent between September 2009 and September 2010.