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It was the fourth consecutive monthly drop, with the measure down six out of the past seven months. The overall measure is down 7.4 per cent over the past 12 months to be at its lowest level since February 2021, when the jobless rate was 5.8 per cent. Indeed senior economist Callam Pickering said while there had been a lift in ads for retail and food preparation jobs in the run-up to Christmas, there had been falls in education, management and administrative assistance. Finance markets put the chance of an interest rate cut at the Reserve Bank’s Melbourne Cup Day meeting at better than 60 per cent when jobs figures showed a lift in the jobless rate in September. But those chances evaporated after the most recent inflation report showed prices climbing at 3.2 per cent over the past year. Figures from the Bureau of Statistics, also released Monday, showed household spending increased by a lower-than-expected 0.2 per cent through September. While spending rose after the Reserve Bank’s February rate cut, it has moderated to be just above population growth.
