Australia’s jobless rate climbs to 6.4% in December, highest in 12-1/2 years
SYDNEY—Australia’s jobless rate rose to the highest level in almost 12-and-a-half years, affirming the central bank’s decision this month to deliver a surprise interest-rate cut and signal more to come.
Unemployment climbed to a higher-than-expected 6.4% in January from 6.1% in December, government figures showed Thursday, indicating the economy is shedding jobs faster than the central bank had anticipated. Economists were expecting the jobless rate to rise to just 6.2%.
The number of people employed fell by 12,200 from December, compared with an expected 5,000 decline. The number of full-time jobs, meanwhile, plunged by 28,100, offset partly by a 15,900 increase in part-time employment. At just under 800,000, the number of unemployed people in the country is now the highest since the early 1990s, when Australia’s resource-rich economy was emerging from a deep slump.
The Australian dollar fell sharply following the latest data, as financial markets rushed to price in the near-certainty of another rate cut by April that would potentially take the benchmark cash-rate target to a record low of 2.0%. Diana Mousina, an economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia , said the next reduction was possible as early as March in light of the latest jobs numbers. As recently as the end of last year, the Reserve Bank of Australia had been saying it expected rates to remain stable for some time.
