Australia’s jobless rate has lifted to 4.1 per cent in January, with the increase in part fuelled by people waiting to start new jobs.

The number of employed lifted by roughly 500 and the number of unemployed increased by by 22,000 people, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

That meant the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 4.1 per cent.

“This was the first time in two years, since January 2022, that the unemployment rate had been above 4 per cent,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

Consensus forecasts landed on a 4 per cent uptick in the unemployment rate and a 25,000 lift in employment.

The bureau noted that the increase in the jobless rate in January could partly be explained by a higher-than-usual number of people who were not employed but said they were about to start a new job or return to one.

“While there were more unemployed people in January, there were also more unemployed people who were expecting to start a job in the next four weeks,” Jarvis said.

The participation rate remained steady at 66.8 per cent.

The health of the labour market is monitored closely by the Reserve Bank, with unemployment expected to move higher gradually as the economy slows.

The central bank’s latest forecasts have the jobless rate reaching 4.3 per cent in the middle of the year and 4.4 per cent by December.

– AAP