VICTORIA'S unemployment rate has jumped to the highest level since the global financial crisis, with the loss of 30,000 jobs from the state economy in January.

After warnings from the business community about the outlook for the construction sector, figures from the Bureau of Statistics showed the state unemployment rate increased to 6.1 per cent in January from 5.6 per cent at the end of last year. It was the highest level since August 2009, when the state was still being buffeted following the global financial crisis. Although the monthly seasonally adjusted figures tend to be volatile, Victoria's jobless rate has been trending higher for the past year.

Opposition employment Tim Pallas said the January jobs drop in Victoria was equivalent to almost 1000 fewer Victorians in work each day. Credit:Erin Jonasson

Using the bureau's more stable trend figures, Victoria's unemployment rate increased from 5.4 per cent to 5.8 per cent over the 12 months to January, with the ranks of the jobless swelling by 15,200.

Premier Ted Baillieu cautioned that the monthly figures were volatile, but warned the state economy was facing significant challenges, singling out the high dollar, which erodes the competitiveness of local producers compared with foreign rivals, the federal carbon tax and a raft of decisions by the federal government, including a failure to press ahead with an inquiry into construction costs.