Australia's unemployment rate isn't budging.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released its latest unemployment report on Thursday, showing that the nation's unemployment rate remained at 4.1% in February.
The participation rate was down 0.4% to 66.8%, while both the number of employed and unemployed individuals fell, by 53,000 and 11,000, respectively.
The data also indicated that fewer older people — those above the age of 55 — were returning to work, while there was consistent growth in employment levels for the 15-year-old to 54-year-old age range.
Australia's unemployment numbers have been historically low for the last several months. That's good news for job seekers. But low levels of unemployment could delay the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) future interest rate decisions. The central bank uses data, including employment levels and inflationary pressures, to determine future monetary policy decisions.
Market participants have been hopeful that the RBA will cut the official cash rate (OCR) at its March 31 to April 1 meeting.
The bank cut the OCR by 25 basis points to 4.10% in February — Australia's first rate cut in 15 months.
Meanwhile, other economic indicators — which will have an impact on the direction of rates — include inflation, which has been trending down in Australia. In January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its Consumer Price Index (CPI), showing quarterly results for both the CPI and trimmed mean inflation rates, the latter having dropped to a new low of 3.2%.
