The jobless rate continued to climb in January but Australia’s job market remains surprisingly resilient.
Data released by the ABS yesterday showed the national unemployment figure rose to 4.8 per cent in January – the highest rate since June 2006.
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Expectations of mass lay-offs however appear to be amiss with 33,700 new full time positions created during the month.
A rise in the size of the workforce, which rose by 0.1 per cent, appeared to be the real reason behind the increase.
The federal government has forecast the percentage of unemployed Australians to rise to 7 per cent by mid 2010.