Australia's jobless rate climbs to a near four year high in July

AI summary

<p dir="ltr"> The unemployment rate's move to 4.5% is a genuine miss against 4.4% forecasts and takes the jobless rate to its highest level since late 2021, a signal likely to firm up expectations that the RBA has room to pause its hiking bias rather than push through further increases in the near term. That said, the softness is not uniform: full-time employment actually rose in July, the entire decline was driven by part-time roles, and the three-month average pace of employment growth still sits at a reasonably firm 34k, with the three-month average jobless rate unchanged at 4.4%. That combination points to a labour market that is softening gradually rather than deteriorating sharply, which should give the RBA room to assess the cumulative effect of its policy settings without feeling pressured into an immediate response either way. The Australian dollar is likely to come under some pressure given the scale of today's headline miss, though the sizeable upward revision to June's data should temper the reaction somewhat.</p><p dir="ltr">--- Australian employment unexpectedly fell in July and the jobless rate climbed to its highest since late 2021, though the decline was driven entirely by part-time roles and June's print was revised sharply higher, pointing to gradual rather than sharp labour market softening.</p><p dir="ltr">Summary:</p><ul dir="ltr"><li><a href="https://investinglive.com/news/australian-july-2026-jobs-report-unemployment-rate-4-expected-4-4-prior-4-4/" rel