CANBERRA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Australia's unemployment rate rose slightly in January to 4.1 percent, from 4.0 percent in December, as the labor force participation rate hit a record high, showed official figures released Thursday.

The number of employed Australians increased by 44,000 between December and January to 14.63 million, while the number of unemployed people actively looking for work increased by 23,400 to 627,500, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

As a result, the workforce participation rate -- the measure of the proportion of the working-age population who are either employed or looking for work -- increased from 67.2 percent to a new record high of 67.3 percent in January.

Bjorn Jarvis, head of labor statistics at the ABS, said the participation rate in January was 0.8 percentage points higher than January 2024 and 1.8 percentage points higher than March 2020.

The employment-to-population rate also rose to a new record of 64.6 percent in January.

"This was 0.8 percentage points higher than a year ago and 2.4 percentage points higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. This change was underpinned by an increase in the employment-to-population ratio for women," Jarvis said.

He said most of the rise in employment and unemployment in January was driven by women.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the figures as "very encouraging" and said in a statement posted on social media that over 1.1 million jobs have been created since the current government won power in 2022.

Despite the net increase in the number of employed Australians in January, the total number of hours worked fell by 0.4 percent from December.

The ABS attributed the fall to more people working reduced hours and taking time off during the school summer holidays. Enditem

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