Unemployment steady at 3.9% in December: ABS

The news: Australia's labour market remains tight, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.9% in December while the participation rate remains relatively high, ABS figures show.

The numbers: Employment dropped by 65,000 people in December, while the number of unemployed people fell slightly by 1000. The drop in employment followed larger than usual increases in October and November, totalling 117,000 over the two months and taking the the employment-to-population ratio and participation rate to record highs of 64.7 and 67.3% in November.

The context: Australia's tight labour market has been of close interest for the Reserve Bank, as it weighs the effects of wage growth on inflation. The ABS will update its labour force data on 25 January, ahead of key quarterly inflation figures at the end of the month and the first RBA rate meeting of the year on 6 February.

What they said: "In trend terms, many of the key indicators still point to a tight labour market. However, the increasing unemployment rate since November 2022, along with the rising underemployment rate and slowdown in the growth of employment and hours worked, suggest that the labour market is starting to slow," said David Taylor, head of ABS labour statistics.