MNI BRIEF: Aussie Jan Unemployment At 4.1%, 44k Jobs Created
MNI (MELBOURNE) - The unemployment rate lifted 10 basis points to 4.1% as expected over January, while the economy created 44,000 jobs, more than double the anticipated amount, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed Thursday.
“The rises in both the number of people employed and unemployed saw the participation rate rise by 0.1 percentage point, to a new record high of 67.3%,” noted Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS. “This was 0.8 pp higher than a year ago and 1.8 pp higher than March 2020.”
The Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock stressed the tight labour market remained an area of concern, following the board’s decision to ease the cash rate 25 basis points to 4.1% this week. (See MNI RBA WATCH: Board Delivers Hawkish 25BP Cut)
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