
More evidence of a gentle weakening in the Australian labour market is expected in the official jobs dataset for January.
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock is also due to front a parliamentary committee, the second hearing in the space of a week, where she will field questions on the economy and monetary policy.
The state of the labour market will no doubt feature as a line of questioning, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics set to release its January update on employment on the same day.
Employment fell by 65,100 people in December, the largest monthly decline since the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The jobless rate hung on at 3.9 per cent, still lower than pre-pandemic trends but above the lows of 3.4 per cent reached in late 2022.

Westpac economists believed there was room for the unemployment rate to round up to four per cent in January, provided the participation rate held around its current level of 66.8 per cent.
“Conditions in the Australian labour market softened into year-end, labour demand and supply gradually moving back towards balance,” Westpac wrote in a note.
There had been some volatility in the data, which could extend into January, but they said the underlying trend was one of gradual weakening.
The Reserve Bank is expecting the labour market to soften as its interest rate hiking cycle works to slow economic activity and weigh on still-high inflation.
Expectations are for no more interest rate hikes in the cycle and evidence of weakening in the labour market would add to the case for cuts sooner rather than later.
This post was originally published on Michael West.