Booming employment conditions have continued into the new year with another 16,000 new jobs created in January.

The jobs growth help edge down the employment rate from 5.6 per cent at the end of 2017 to 5.5 per cent, on seasonally adjusted data supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The number of people looking for work has also risen with the participation rate up to 65.6 per cent, the highest figure in seven years.

The participation rate for females in the workforce rose to a record high of 60.5 per cent.

However, there was a big switch in the composition of jobs on offer.

The addition of 65,900 part-time jobs eclipsed a fall in full-time employment of 49,800.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said January was the 16th straight month of jobs growth, a new record run of gains.

However, the data also included some abnormal movements, including big falls in the unemployment rate in Tasmania and Victoria.

“Overall, the job market is clearly in great shape,” Mr James said.

“Jobs are being created, more people are looking for work and businesses are still keen to hire.”

Tasmania’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.3 per cent in January, from 6.1 per cent in December, as the state’s participation rate dropped 0.7 per centage points.

Victoria’s unemployment rate fell from 6.1 per cent in December to 5.6 per cent in January.

The unemployment rate in NSW rose from 4.8 per cent to 5.1 per cent.

The Australian dollar dipped slightly on the release of the jobs data, but has since recovered to be at an intra-day high of 79.45 US cents at 1240 AEDT.

-AAP