The unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent in January as the number of unemployed Australians grew by 22,000.
The figures narrowly surprised market expectations, which were largely pricing in no change to the unemployment rate, which was previously 3.5 per cent.
Head of Labour Statistics at the ABS Bjorn Jarvis said there was a larger-than-usual increase in unemployed people in January.
“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,” he said.
“This January, we saw more people than usual with a job indicating they were starting or returning to work later in the month.”
Underemployment, which measures Australians who are currently employed but wish to work more, remained steady at 6.1 per cent.
Read Related Also: Mariah Carey Has A Complicated Relationship With Her Mother Patricia
Jarvis said today’s figures represented the second month in a row that employment fell.
”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,” he 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.”
