Australia: Unemployment rate rises in January
Seasonally-adjusted employment decreased by 11,500 in January, following 20,000 jobs shed in December. January’s result was driven by a decrease in full-time employment more than offsetting an increase in part-time employment.
Moreover, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in January from December’s 3.5%. Moreover, the participation rate dipped to 66.5% from December’s 66.6%, while the seasonally-adjusted underemployment rate remained unchanged from December’s 6.1% in January.
FocusEconomics panelists project the unemployment rate to average 4.0% in 2023, down 0.1 percentage points from last month’s estimate, and 4.3% in 2024.