Unemployment rate steady but millions of hours lost due to sick leave | swrighteconomy
The unemployment rate remained steady in January at 4.2 per cent despite Omicron outbreaks leaving hundreds of thousands of workers off sick or isolating.
“While we again saw higher than usual numbers of people taking annual leave – even more so than last year – the 8.8 per cent fall in hours worked in January 2022 also reflected much higher than usual numbers of people on sick leave.” Typically 90,000 to 100,000 people are away sick for an entire week in January. This year about 450,000 people were off sick for a week, or about 3.4 per cent of the workforce.
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