The proportion of women in the workforce has reached an all-time high, while more adults of working age are now employed or looking for work than any time since 2011.
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.
Adam Zuchetti
Adam Zuchetti is the editor of My Business, and has steered the publication’s editorial direction since early 2016.
The two-time Publish Awards finalist has an extensive journalistic career across business, property and finance, including a four-year stint in the UK. Email Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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