Increased Employment Holds Back RBA Rate Cut
Despite predictions that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would choose to ease monetary policy at its first meeting of 2020, today the Reserve Bank has decided to leave the official cash rate unchanged. After a two-month break speculation between economists was rife, with most agreeing we would see a definite cut. Instead, the RBA decided to hold at 0.75% where the rate has sat since its record-breaking drop in October last year. A Rise in Employment In its December minutes the RBA alluded to a cut being likely, stating that it would depend on February's "economic conditions." However, come February economic conditions have picked up, and with the recent growth in employment, the RBA has held fire on cuts - at least for the moment. Recently, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released figures detailing that over December the unemployment rate fell to 5.1%, an improvement on November's 5.2%. Of the figures, men'