Releasing its monthly labour force participation rate figures, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) noted that the female participation rate reached a new high of 60.5 per cent in January 2018.

That beat the previous record set just a month earlier, when December saw a rate of 60.4 per cent of women in the workforce.

That has helped the overall participation rate to surge to a seven-year high, meaning the number of Australians who are either employed or looking for work is the highest since February 2011.

While a higher participation rate means that more people are earning money, it can mask the true unemployment rate – which remained steady at 5.5 per cent. It is also often attributed to older Australians delaying their retirement, as what happened during the GFC which is a result of superannuation funds and share portfolios taking a hit.

According to the ABS, the economy added 9,000 full-time and 14,000 part-time jobs for the month.

The employment growth was also reflected by a nearly 15 per cent surge in job advertisements in January.

More women in the workforce than ever before

Adam Zuchetti

Last Updated: 15 February 2018 Published: 15 February 2018