Unemployment falls back to record lows: Economy roundup

Unemployment fell by 0.2% in January to 4.1%, its lowest level since 1974, in yet another sign of the defiant strength of the Australian economy in the face of uncertain global conditions.

Labourforce data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today shows that employment rose by 26,800 to 10.631 million seasonally adjusted in January, well above the 15,000 expected by the markets.

Full-time employment decreased by 7800 to 7,587,600, and part-time employment increased by 34,600 to 3,043,400.

A big decline in the number of people looking for work, by 27,500 to 296,000, also helped contribute to the 0.2% fall in unemployment.

The sharemarket moved higher from already positive territory following the release of the jobs data. At 12.55pm the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.8% on yesterday’s close to 5639.3.