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. 

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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.