Australia’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% in January, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) at the start of Asian trading on Thursday, February 19. This figure is unchanged from December’s reading, while market expectations had anticipated a rise to 4.2%. The labor force participation rate also remained stable at 66.7%.

The Australian economy added approximately 17,800 jobs in January, bringing the total number of employed individuals to 14,703,800. This follows the addition of nearly 68,000 jobs in December, which was revised upwards. Expectations had anticipated the creation of around 20,000 jobs.