Unemployment rate rises to 4.1%
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The news: The unemployment rate increased to 4.1% in January, up 0.1 percentage points over the month, according to the Australian Bureau of statistics.
An extra 44,000 people were employed and the number of unemployed grew by 23,000.
The unemployment rate was in line with expectations, but the number of jobs created was more than double forecasts.
The numbers: The employment-to-population ratio increased 0.1 percentage points to a high of 64.6%. The data indicates a significant increase in women working.
The participation increased to 67.3% while the underemployment rate remained steady at 6%.
What they said: "The number of employed people grew by 0.3% in January 2025, the same pace as the average monthly rise in 2024, but higher than the average monthly population growth of 0.2% during 2024," said ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis.
“Most of the rise in both employment and unemployment in January reflected rises for women, with female employment rising by 44,000 and unemployment by 24,000. In contrast, male employment and unemployment both changed by less than 1,000 people," Jarvis said.
"As in the past three Januarys, in January 2025 we again saw more people than usual who had a job but were waiting to start or return to work."
The source: Australian Bureau of Statistics media release
