Australian jobless rate hits 10-year high

AUSTRALIA’S unemployment rate rose to 6.0 per cent in January, official figures show, the highest level for 10 years.

Australia’s unemployment rate rose to 6.0 per cent in January, official figures show, the highest level since Ju...

AUSTRALIA’S unemployment rate rose to 6.0 per cent in January, official figures show, the highest level since July 2003.

Unemployment in December was unrevised at 5.8 per cent.

The total number of people with jobs fell 3,700 to 11.460 million in the month, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. The median forecast for the unemployment rate was 5.9 per cent in January, with total employment growth of 15,000, according to an AAP survey of 12 market economists.

Full-time employment fell 7,100 to 7.953 million in January and part-time employment was up 3,400 to 3.507 million.

The participation rate - the proportion of the population that have a job, are looking for work or are ready to start work - was steady at 64.5 per cent.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten believes Australia is in the grips of a “jobs crisis”, as the unemployment rate rises to the highest level in more than a decade.

Treasurer Joe Hockey concedes the figures are “disappointing”, but he’s urged Labor to help rather than criticise.

“I’m appalled the Abbott government doesn’t have a plan for jobs,” the Opposition Leader told reporters.

“What are they doing to stop the tens of thousands of jobs that are either going overseas or just disappearing?”

Shadow Employment Minister Brendan O’Connor described the figures as “damning”.

“The unemployment rate is higher than at any time during the global financial crisis,” he said.

Joe Hockey admitted the increase was not unexpected, but indicates the size of the challenge facing the government.

“The labour force figures revealed today are the unfortunate reality of six years of Labor government,” Mr Hockey said.

He claimed improving the growth rate was one of the answers to reducing the unemployment rate and that could be achieved if the Coalition got its “plan” through.

“We do have a plan for jobs and we do have a plan for growth,” he said, nominating the repeal of the carbon and mining taxes.

“I ask Bill Shorten and the Labor party and the Greens to be responsible in accepting the mandate that we have from the Australian people, to put in place the sorts of reforms that create the jobs.”

Employed people in Australia worked a total of 1.636 billion hours in January, the seasonally adjusted ABS figures showed. That was 1.3 per cent higher than the 1.615 billion hours worked in December.

It was up by 2.0 per cent from the 1.604 billion hours worked in January 2013.

The average amount of time worked per employee rose to 142 hours and 44 minutes in January, from 140 hours and 55 minutes in December, an increase of one hour and 49 minutes.

Compared with January 2013, the average time worked per employee rose by two hours and 45 minutes.

Because the level of employment in January was little changed from both December and January last year, the percentage changes for average hours worked were the same as for total hours worked - 1.3 per cent for the month and 2.0 per cent through the year.

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