Positive employment conditions have seen 16,000 new jobs created in January.

The employment rate has dipped down from 5.6 per cent at the end of 2017 to 5.5 per cent, seasonally adjusted, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The participation rate has edged down to 65.6 per cent, and the participation rate for females in the workforce rose to a record high of 60.5 per cent.

The big switch in the composition of jobs on offer continues, with full-time jobs falling by 49,800 compared to a gain of 65,900 part-time positions over the month.

Hours worked has fallen by 1.4 per cent, or 24.1 million hours across the workforce.

Average working hours are down 2.7 per cent over the past year.

Queensland saw the largest net gain in jobs (up 19,700), while jobs were shed in NSW (down 21,000) and WA (down 8,900).

New South Wales’ unemployment rate is up to 5.1 per cent —the lowest rate in the nation — while unemployment in Victoria is up to 5.6 per cent.

JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman says the new data does not look good for the wage growth.

“Perhaps the most interesting detail of the report is what didn't happen, which is that participation stopped rising, and this immediately put a pause to the very strong trend of full-time job gains, of labour force and employment growth, and of the rise in the employment/population ratio,” Mr Jarman told the ABC.

“One reading does not make a trend, of course, but this result does highlight the fallacy of composition often repeated regarding the labour data in the last year: that once participation stops rising, the unemployment rate will drop quickly.”