Australia Full-time employment decreased by 49,800 in January

The seasonally adjusted employment numbers published today by the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed the economy added 16,000 jobs in January, beating the forecast of 15,000, however, the full-time employment decreased 49,800 to 8,460,900. The net job gains were largely due to part-time employment rising by 65,900 to 3,992,600.

The previous month's full-time employment figure has been revised lower to 12,700 from 15,100 initially reported. Also, the jobless rate fell to 5.5 percent from an upwardly revised 5.6 percent in December. 

The drop in the full-time jobs could weigh over the Aussie dollar. 

JANUARY KEY POINTS (Source ABS)

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE) 

• Employment increased 23,000 to 12,446,600.
• Unemployment increased 2,600 to 720,200.
• The unemployment rate remained steady at 5.5%.
• Participation rate increased by 0.1 pts to 65.6%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 1.2 million hours (0.1%) to 1,727.0 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE) 

• Employment increased 16,000 to 12,453,500. Full-time employment decreased 49,800 to 8,460,900 and part-time employment increased 65,900 to 3,992,600.
• Unemployment decreased 7,900 to 723,800. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work decreased 4,500 to 497,800 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 3,400 to 226,000.
• Unemployment rate decreased 0.1 pts to 5.5%
• Participation rate decreased by 0.1 pts to 65.6%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 24.1 million hours (1.4%) to 1,708.2 million hours.