Australia's unemployment rate ticked up to 4.0% in December, despite a surge in employment. This development has increased expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia in February.
Australia's unemployment rate climbed marginally to 4.0 percent in December, fueling speculations of a long-anticipated interest rate reduction when the Reserve Bank convenes next month. The jobless rate ascended by 0.1 percent last month, according to fresh data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Notably, this increase occurred despite an influx of 56,000 individuals joining the workforce, a robust performance for the year's concluding month.
'With employment rising by 56,000 individuals and the number of unemployed increasing by 10,000 individuals, the unemployment rate rose to 4.0 percent,' stated Bjorn Jarvis, the head of labor statistics at the ABS. 'The number of employed people grew by 0.4 percent in December 2024, slightly exceeding the average monthly rise of 0.3 percent throughout 2024. It also surpassed the average monthly population growth of 0.2 percent over the year.' Prior to the jobs data's disclosure, investors had projected a 73 percent likelihood of a rate cut during the RBA's inaugural meeting of the year in February. This anticipation stemmed from core inflation dipping to 3.2 percent in November, nearing the Reserve Bank's target range. Two of the four major banks anticipate the cash rate to be reduced from its current level of 4.35 percent in February, while NAB and Westpac predict a cut in May.
AUSTRALIA UNEMPLOYMENT INTEREST RATES RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA ECONOMY
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