The labour market is expected to have made a positive start to the new year after a booming final quarter in 2015.
The number of Australians with a job is forecast to have risen by 15,000 in January, according to an AAP survey of 14 economists.
This follows a fall of 1000 in December, and jobs growth of 71,400 in November, after a 56,000 rise in October.
The jobless rate is expected to remain flat for a third consecutive month at 5.8 per cent - its lowest level in almost two years.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its employment report on Thursday.
"The end of 2015 provided a vote of confidence for the health of Australia's labour market," ANZ economist Kirk Zammit said.
The strength has been underpinned by jobs growth in NSW and Victoria, particularly in services sectors like tourism.
Mr Zammit said the decline in the unemployment rate to 5.8 per cent from 6.3 per cent in the space of six months was surprising.
National Australia Bank senior economist David de Garis said the robust November and December releases took the surprise factor to a new level.
"Employment growth (was) running at an annual rate of 2.6 per cent, even beyond the growth rate of the economy that was 2.5 per cent over the year to September quarter," he said.
"Rarely does employment growth exceed economic growth, implying that the employment data has either been overstated, or that GDP has been understated."
Mr de Garis said variations in the ABS survey sample could inflate the size of January's jobs growth figure.
"Watch out for another unbelievable employment print," he said.
The latest ANZ job advertisements survey, a key indicator of employment growth, showed the number of jobs ads in January rose one per cent.
Job ads were up 10.8 per cent on the same month a year ago, and ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said there'd been a broad upswing in hiring intentions since early 2014.
"Of the 25 monthly readings since January 2014, only five have been a contraction," he said.
The participation rate, which refers to the number of people either employed or actively looking for work, is expected to have risen to 65.2 per cent from 65.1 per cent in December.
Unemployment steady
* Unemployment rate to remain flat at 5.8 in Jan
* The number of people with jobs tipped to rise by 15,000
* Jobs growth forecasts ranged from staying steady to a gain of 40,000
* Participation rate forecast to rise to 65.2pct, from 65.1pct
(Source: AAP survey of 14 economists)
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