Australia’s unemployment rate jumps to 4.5% with markets slashing chance of more interest rate hikes

Key points

• Australia’s unemployment rate has jumped to 4.5% in April to reach the highest in about four and half years, amid fears rising interest rates and the global oil crisis will smash economic growth.
• The surprise rise in unemployment will provide the Reserve Bank with more reason to hold off on a fourth rate hike at its next meeting in June, as financial markets slashed the chance of more interest rate rises this year.
• The number of employed people unexpectedly fell by 18,600 in the month – the first decline this year – dragging the jobless rate up from 4.3%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
• The chief economist at Betashares, David Bassanese, said there were “tentative signs suggesting the labour market is buckling”.
• “Of course, whether the RBA raises rates again depends on inflation outcomes and whether the labour market weakness evident in April was merely a quirky one-off...