As the number of unemployed Australians increased by 22,000 in January, the unemployment rate increased to 3.7%.
The data slightly exceeded market forecasts, which widely assumed that the unemployment rate, which was 3.5 percent at the time, would not move.
Bjorn Jarvis, the ABS’s head of labor statistics, reported that the number of unemployed persons increased more than typical in January.
According to him, January is the most seasonal month of the year for the Australian labor market, as people prepare to start new work, return from leave, and quit their current jobs.
“This January, we observed more people with jobs than normal, indicating they will begin or resume employment later in the month.”
Australians who are currently employed but want to work more are considered to be underemployed; this rate stayed constant at 6.1%.
According to Jarvis, today’s numbers showed a decrease in employment for the second consecutive month.
The unemployment rate increased to 3.7%, he added, “with employment falling by almost 11,000 individuals and the number of unemployed rising by 22,000 people.”
“Seasonally adjusted employment fell for the second consecutive month, but 2022 saw very high growth.
Despite a 0.2 percentage point decline from December to January to reach 64.0%, the employment to population ratio was still 0.5 percentage points higher than in January 2022 and 1.6 percentage points higher than in March 2020.
