Unemployment lifts to 4.1 per cent as 23,000 lose jobs

Australia's unemployment rate rose slightly in January following this week's long-awaited RBA cash rate news.

The country's unemployment rate jumped by 0.1 per cent to 4.1 per cent, according to the seasonally-adjusted figure released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Employment rose by 44,000 people and the number of unemployed people increased by 23,000.

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In trend terms, the figure remained steady at 4.0 per cent.

Economists had hoped wage growth figures and the RBA's long-awaited rate cut would keep jobless figures firm.

ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the increase was a reflection of more people than usual with jobs waiting to start or return to work in January.

The RBA had previously forecast a 4.3 per cent average around this period.

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The country's unemployment rate has gradually risen since mid-2022.

"With employment rising by 44,000 people and the number of unemployed increasing by 23,000 people, the unemployment rate rose to 4.1 per cent," said Jarvis.

"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 per cent.

"This was 0.8 percentage points higher than a year ago and 1.8 percentage points higher than March 2020."

In December, the unemployment fell to its lowest level since March, surprising economists and denting hopes of an earlier-than-expected interest rate cut.

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