Handbrake on rates

AUSTRALIA’S strong run of employment growth is unlikely to pressure the Reserve Bank of Australia into immediate action to lift interest rates from record lows.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data released yesterday showed the country has achieved a record-equalling 15th consecutive month of increasing job numbers despite a rise in the unemployment rate to 5.5 per cent. Economists had expected the rate to remain steady at 5.4 per cent.

Pitcher Partners director of wealth management David Lane said that while the RBA would take the jobs data as a sign of confidence in the economy, it was unlikely that its views on interest rates would be altered.

“The number of Australians with jobs has risen, but wages growth has been very low for some time,” Mr Lane said.