Jobless rise in January, but ACT still doing best in nation

UNEMPLOYMENT figures in the ACT has bucked the national trend of the growing optimism in Australia in the wake of the global pandemic.

For a change since the number of jobless across the country sharply began to rise in March 2020, one of the few jurisdictions that led an economical revival later in the year amid the easing of government restrictions in Canberra has also hit a wall in the month of January.

An increase of unemployed in the capital was up by 0.7 per cent last month from December just as Australia’s rate was down by 0.2 per cent, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force…