RBA rate cut probability falls to 30%
- Markets trim bets of an RBA cut next month after the above-forecast jobs report.
- While the headline figure bettered estimates, full-time jobs declined.
Markets have scaled back expectations for a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) rate cut at the Feb. 4 meeting despite the not-so-impressive details of the December
jobs report.
Probability of a 25 basis point RBA rate cut in February has dropped to 30%, around half the level seen prior to the jobs data, according to David Scutt, markets reporter, at The Sydney Morning Herald.
The Australian economy added 28.9K jobs in December, beating the forecasted figure of 15K by a big margin. The December figure, however, was significantly lower than the prior month's impressive 39.9K number.
Also, job growth was mainly fueled by part-time work. The full-time jobs declined by 300, taking the shine off the upbeat headline figure.
Even so, markets have priced out rate cut expectations, possibly due to the surprise decline in the jobless rate to 5.1% from 5.2%.