The item of most note on the data calendar for the session ahead is the Australian Laour Market report for December 2023. The November report showed:
- another massive rise in jobs
- the 'participation rate' - i.e folks in the workforce or looking for work, also rose
- the unemployment rate is its highest since May of 2022, but still not to far from its nearly 50 year low of 3.5%
As I said at the time, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is going to have to weigh up the jobs added as a sign of strength, and the rising unemployment rate as a concern given its dual mandate. The RBA will, however, also see the higher unemployment rate as a slight easing in the tight labour market, which they'll welcome, though maybe not say out loud.
Having said all this the RBA is laser-focused on inflation right now. The next official quarterly data is due on January 31. The RBA meets next on February 5 and 6 and right now its a live meeting. Earlier this week we got the first update for December inflation via the private survey:
The jump is a concern, b ut the panic button has not yet been hit.
This snapshot from the ForexLive economic data calendar, access it here.
The times in the left-most column are GMT.
The numbers in the right-most column are the 'prior' (previous month/quarter as the case may be) result. The number in the column next to that, where there is a number, is the consensus median expected.
