A record share of Australians are either working or looking for a job as the labour market holds up in the face of a rapidly cooling economy, keeping pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia to maintain high interest rates.The employment growth figures were better than market expectations for gains of 20,000 and accorded with the RBA’s view that the labour market is cooling, but only very gradually.The increase in employment was not enough to stop the jobless rate from rising to 4.
“ makes the rise in the unemployment rate less of a red flag and is not a sign that the RBA needs to imminently cut interest rates,” she said. “The good news for the economy, at least, is that the RBA’s desired rise in the unemployment rate is not coming via sharp reductions in employment, but rather strong growth in labour supply relative to softer – but still firmly growing – labour demand.”