Newcastle's volatile jobs market took another dive in January as the Omicron outbreak sent the city into a self-imposed lockdown.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Newcastle and Lake Macquarie council areas posted a record number of people in work in December at an estimated 206,900.
But the post-Delta party ended as quickly as it had begun as the number of employed people across the city plunged 7.4 per cent to 191,600 in January, a mammoth fall of 15,000.
The January figure was similar to the level of employment six months ago, before the Delta strain sent regional NSW into lockdown.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest labour force survey estimates Newcastle and Lake Macquarie had an unemployment rate of 4.4 per cent in January.
But the total labour force, including people in employment or looking for jobs, dropped 11,600 last month, suggesting the Omicron wave caused another sharp disruption in people's ability or willingness to work after super-spreader events in two Newcastle clubs on December 8 and 10.
The workforce participation rate, a key measure of how many people are in the jobs market, dropped from a healthy 67.8 per cent to 64 per cent across the two local government areas.
The jobs market in the rest of the Hunter, outside Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, has remained far more stable during the pandemic.
The estimated number of people in work grew less than half a percentage point to 127,300 and the participation rate was virtually unchanged at a low 57.9 per cent.
The unemployment rate, like Newcastle's, was flagged as statistically unreliable at 4.1 per cent.
The number of people in work in NSW fell just 0.5 per cent last month and the jobless rate increased slightly to 4.2 per cent.
The Australian unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2 per cent in January and the participation increased to 66.2 per cent.
But the underemployment rate increased to 6.7 per cent and monthly hours worked decreased by 159 million, or 8.8 per cent.
In the news
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark: newcastleherald.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News