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Jul 15, 2019, 12:00 PM GMT
#UnemploymentRate

Australian Employment Data Scheduled for Thursday

The overall expectation for Thursday's report is that the Australian economy would have registered almost no changes in employment for June, and hence, the unemployment rate would remain unchanged at the current level of 5.2% for the third consecutive month.

Such a likely development, however, would not be considered as a complete success for the Australian economy, as the national labour market still has the potential for growth. During its last monetary policy meeting on the 2nd of July 2019, the Board of Directors of the RBA stated that:

“There has been little inroad into spare capacity in the labour market recently, with the unemployment rate having risen slightly to 5.2 per cent. […] the labour market outcomes suggest that the Australian economy can sustain lower rates of unemployment and underemployment.” [source]

Overall, an eventually reported unemployment rate at 5.2 per cent on Thursday would not be a total surprise and would most likely be anticipated by the monetary policy officials; however, it would also demonstrate the need for further monitoring and possibly additional interventions by the RBA in the near-term.

The Australian dollar is currently enjoying its fourth consecutive trading day of rising in value, and it would appear that the RBA's July decision to cut the interest rate with 25 basis points was enough to give the currency the much-needed support ahead of the historically quieter summer period.