Part-time jobs burst
Australia's participation rate nudged to a record high in December, and this helped to lift the unemployment rate a bit, albeit only from a seasonally adjusted 3.93 per cent 3.98 per cent.
As such, the reported unemployment rate rounded up from 3.9 per cent in November to 4 per cent in December.
Three states still had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of under 4 per cent at the end of 2024, those being super-tight Western Australia (3.3 per cent), New South Wales (3.8 per cent), and Queensland (3.9 per cent).
The highest state unemployment rate was seen in Victoria (4.4 per cent).
For the month of December, part-time employment increased by a massive +80,000, but full-time employment was reported as -23,700 lower.
The net increase for the month overall was much chunkier than expected at +56,300, the recent trend in jobs gains also being mainly driven by strong hiring in Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland.
There were some modest downwards revisions to previously reported figures, and the 3-month average employment gain slowed a little further to +32,000 (down from a recent high of +51,000 in September 2024).
Leading indicators suggest a more modest pace of hiring ahead.
There was once again no deterioration at all in either the underemployment rate (6 per cent) or the underutilisation rate (10 per cent) in December.
The Aussie dollar initially increased from 62.25 US cents to around 62.4 cents on these solid figures, but then later during the day's trade drooped lower again, to under 62 cents.
Bond yields weren't dramatically moved through the day either, suggesting that markets are already rather more focussed on the quarterly inflation figures, which are due for release in January 29.
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