Unemployment rate rises to 4.1%, the highest in two years
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The news: Australia’s unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in January, a two-year high, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.
The numbers: The seasonally adjusted jobless rate increased from 3.9% the previous month, with the number of unemployed increasing by 22,000. The participation rate remained steady at 66.8% and the employment-to-population ratio fell 0.1 percentage point to 64.1%. However, these rates remain close to recent historical highs and well above pre-pandemic levels.
The context: The unemployment rate rise coincided with a higher-than-usual number of people who were not employed but said they would be starting or returning to work in the future.
Australia's tight labour market has been of close interest for Reserve Bank as it weighs the effects of wage growth on inflation. While the CPI fell to 4.1% in January, RBA Governor Michele Bullock said inflation was still too high.
What they said: ABS head of labour statistics, Bjorn Jarvis, said: “While there were more unemployed people in January, there were also more unemployed people who were expecting to start a job in the next four weeks”.
“This may be an indication of a changing seasonal dynamic within the labour market, around when people start working after the summer holiday period,” he said.
“In January 2022, 2023 and 2024, around 5% of people who were not employed were attached to a job, compared with around 4% in the January surveys prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The source: ABS media release
