Rising Unemployment Rate Won't Deter Reserve Bank from Hiking Interest Rates

The Australian unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in August, the highest since November 2021.

Despite this increase, the Reserve Bank board is still expected to raise interest rates next week due to concerns about inflation.

Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock warned that an unemployment rate between 4.5% and 5% would help ease pressure on inflation.

The proportion of Australians who are employed has remained steady, but the labour force participation rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 67.1% in August.