Australian employment rate outpaces forecasts, analysts throw in the towel on February rate cut

Australian employment rate outpaces forecasts, analysts throw in the towel on February rate cut

Australian employment outpaced forecasts for a second month in December pushing the unemployment rate to a nine-month low – a much-needed statistic for analysts that speculated a near-term cut in interest rates.

The Aussie Dollar climbed 0.47% to $0.6874 as the market sharply scaled back the chance of an easing from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at its policy meeting on February 4.

Thursday’s data showed that 28,900 net new jobs were created in December compared to forecasts of 15,000 and on top of a surprisingly strong 38,400 gain in November.

Bank analysts from CBA, ANZ, and Citi are shelving the supposed February rate cut though are still anticipating a move some time in the future.

The unemployment rate edged down by 5.1% – the lowest reading since March last year and under analyst forecast.

The breakdown on employment wasn’t as uplifting as all the new jobs were part-time positions. Full-time positions saw itself dipping by 300.