The jobless rate has risen to 4.3 per cent, surpassing expectations, as the number of unemployed Australians jumped.
Financial markets had expected the rate to remain steady at 4.1 per cent in June.
However, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, there was a 34,000 increase in people without work.
Employment rose by 2000, up 2 per cent on the same month last year, after part-time employment grew by 40,000 and full-time employment fell by 38,000.
Until this result, the unemployment rate had sat at 4.1 per cent for three consecutive monthly readings.
The Reserve Bank would closely monitor the labour market before its next monetary policy meeting in August, NAB’s head of Australian economics Gareth Spence said.
“The focus for the RBA will be ensuring the labour market remains healthy going forward,” he said.
“The timing of [rate] cuts is not super important.
“It’s more about where do they end up.”
In a move that shocked analysts and disappointed mortgage holders, the RBA kept the cash rate steady at 3.85 per cent in July.
Most economists had pencilled in a 25-basis-point cut on the back of slowing inflation growth.
Spence still expected the jobless rate to climb to 4.4 per cent by the end of 2025, but said economic indicators pointed to the labour market still being strong.
The Reserve Bank said in its latest monetary policy decision that labour market conditions remained tight.
“Measures of labour underutilisation are at relatively low rates and business surveys and liaison suggest that availability of labour is still a constraint for a range of employers,” the bank said.
“Alternatively, labour market outcomes may prove stronger than expected, given the signal from a range of leading indicators.”
-AAP
Live News
