Australia labor market stays solid in January, employment change blows past expectations

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

Australia’s jobs market remains a bright spot for the economy, figures published by the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released soon before press time showed.

Employment jumped by 39,100 in January, beating the estimated increase of 15,000 over the month, leaving the jobless rate unchanged at 5 percent.

Notably, full-time jobs surged by 65,400, following the decline of 3,000 jobs in December, while part-time employment fell by 26,300, following the jump of 24,600 jobs in December.

The upbeat data should comfort policymakers who are counting on sustained labor market strength to boost wage price inflation and consumption.

January Key points (Source: ABS)

Trend estimates

Employed persons increased 24,900 to 12,747,700. Full-time employed persons increased 16,800 to 8,737,400 and part-time employed persons increased 8,100 to 4,010,300.
Unemployed persons increased 1,800 to 680,100.
Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.1%.
Participation rate remained steady at 65.7%.
Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 1.6 million hours to 1763.2 million hours.

Sesaonally adjusted estimates

Employed persons increased 39,100 to 12,751,800. Full-time employed persons increased 65,400 to 8,743,100 and part-time employed persons decreased 26,300 to 4,008,700.
Unemployed persons increased 6,600 to 673,500.
Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.0%.
Participation rate increased 0.1 pts to 65.7%.
Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 6.6 million hours to 1766.4 million hours.

Labor underutilization

The monthly trend underemployment rate remained steady at 8.3%. The monthly underutilization rate remained steady at 13.3%.
The monthly seasonally adjusted underemployment rate decreased 0.2 pts to 8.1%. The monthly underutilization rate decreased 0.1 pts to 13.2%.

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

EUR/USD steadies near 1.1650 ahead of US Nonfarm Payrolls

EUR/USD holds ground after five days of losses, trading around 1.1650 during the Asian hours on Friday. Traders remain cautious ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls report, which is expected to offer further insight into labor market conditions and the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook. December NFP is forecast to show job gains of 60,000, down from 64,000 in November.

GBP/USD: Further weakness could challenge 1.3400

GBP/USD remains under unabated selling pressure on Thursday, slipping to fresh three-day lows around 1.3415 in response to further improvement in the sentiment surrounding the Greenback ahead of Friday’s key NFP data.

Gold edges lower as bulls opt to wait for the crucial US NFP report

Gold struggles to capitalize on the previous day's goodish move up from the vicinity of the $4,400 mark and attracts some sellers during the Asian session on Friday as bulls seem reluctant ahead of the US NFP report. The critical US employment details will offer more cues about the Fed's rate-cut path, which, in turn, will influence the US Dollar price dynamics and provide a fresh impetus to the non-yielding bullion. In the meantime, dovish Fed expectations and rising geopolitical tensions might continue to act as a tailwind for the XAU/USD.

XRP slides as institutional and retail demand falters

Ripple (XRP) is trading down for the third consecutive day on Thursday amid escalating volatility in the cyrptocurrency market. After peaking at $2.41 on Tuesday, its highest print since November 14 amid the early-year rally, XRP has quickly ran into aggressive profit-taking.

2026 economic outlook: Clear skies but don’t unfasten your seatbelts yet

Most years fade into the background as soon as a new one starts. Not 2025: a year of epochal shifts, in which the macroeconomy was the dog that did not bark. What to expect in 2026? The shocks of 2025 will not be undone, but neither will they be repeated.

XRP slides as institutional and retail demand falters

Ripple is trading down for the third consecutive day on Thursday amid escalating volatility in the cyrptocurrency market. After peaking at $2.41 on Tuesday, its highest print since November 14 amid the early-year rally, XRP has quickly ran into aggressive profit-taking.