RBA’s Hunter says the Australian labour market is still tight relative to full employment

Sarah Hunter, Assistant Governor (Economic) at the Reserve Bank of Australia

• Labour
  market still tight relative to full employment
• Labour
  market has moved towards better balance since late 2022
• Easing
  in labour market similar to past mild downturns
• Some
  slowing in labour demand to occur via drop in average hours
• Expect
  employment to continue to rise but at slower pace than population
• Space
  for vacancies to fall further without sharp rise in unemployment
• Surprised
  by strength in participation rate, including vs peer economies
• Outlook
  is highly uncertain, our forecasts likely to be wrong in some way

Hunter also noted

• high rates are slowing demand in what should a mild economic downturn
• there were signs that the easing in the labour

  market
  had started to flow through to wage growth, which was

  likely
  past its peak and set to slow further

Full text is here:

• Understanding the Journey to Full Employment

Hunt

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Reserve Bank of Australia cash rate vs. inflation rate:

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.