Seasonally adjusted employment increased by 29,000 people between December 2020 and January 2021 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Employment and hours worked
Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said this latest data showed a continued recovery in the labour market into the new year.
"January 2021 was the fourth consecutive monthly rise in employment, as employment in Victoria continued to recover. Nationally, employment was only 59,000 people lower than March 2020, having fallen by 872,000 people early in the pandemic."
This contrasted with seasonally adjusted hours worked, which declined between December and January (a fall of 4.9 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms), as more people than usual took annual leave over the summer.
"After a tough 2020, more Australians than usual took leave in the first two weeks of January, particularly full-time workers," Mr Jarvis said.
"This fall in hours worked is different to the falls across April and May 2020, which resulted from the restrictions in the labour market, rather than people taking leave. However, the number of employed people who worked zero hours in early January in the capital cities also reflects some ongoing effects of recent lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne."
Unemployment and participation
Seasonally adjusted unemployment decreased in January by 34,000 people. The unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points to 6.4 per cent.
The participation rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 66.1 per cent, but remained close to the historical high in December.
The youth unemployment rate remained at 13.9 per cent in January, and the youth participation rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 68.4 per cent.
Underutilisation
The underemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 8.1 per cent, the fourth consecutive monthly fall. This was 0.7 percentage points lower than March 2020 (8.8 per cent) and reflected a larger than usual fall in the number of part-time workers who preferred more hours.
The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, fell 0.6 percentage points to 14.5 per cent, 0.5 percentage points higher than its March 2020 level (14.0 per cent).
Today's release of Labour Force, Australia includes additional analysis of hours worked (including comparisons of the original and seasonally adjusted series and people working less hours) and analysis of full-time and part-time employment (including how these measures are defined).
