Australia: Labor market starts new year on a strong note
Seasonally-adjusted employment increased by 39,100 in January from the previous month, following the revised 16,900 jobs added in December (previously reported: +21,600 jobs) and easily overshooting analysts’ expectations of a gain of 15,000. January’s reading was driven by a surge in full-time workers which more than offset a decline in part-time workers.
Seasonally-adjusted unemployment remained at December’s 5.0% in January, the lowest reading in over seven years. Moreover, the seasonally-adjusted underemployment rate edged down from 8.3% in the previous month to 8.1% in January. Additionally, January saw an increase in the seasonally-adjusted participation rate, which inched up from 65.6% in December to 65.7%.