The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent in January, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
“With employment decreasing by around 11,000 people, and the number of unemployed increasing by 22,000 people, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.
“This was the second consecutive monthly fall in seasonally adjusted employment but followed very strong growth during 2022.
“While the employment to population ratio fell between December and January, down 0.2 percentage points to 64.0 per cent, it was still 0.5 percentage points higher than January 2022 and 1.6 percentage points higher than March 2020.
Along with a larger-than-usual increase in unemployed people in January, there was also a similarly larger-than-usual rise in the number of unemployed people who had employment to go to in the future.
“January is the most seasonal time of the year in the Australian labour market, with people leaving jobs but also getting ready to start new jobs or return from leave. This January, we saw more people than usual with a job indicating they were starting or returning to work later in the month,” Mr Jarvis said.
The seasonally adjusted participation rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 66.5 per cent in January, down from the series high of 66.8 per cent in mid-2022.
