Australia's job positions unexpectedly decreased, mainly driven by part-time positions.

Gate News bot message, Australia's employment positions unexpectedly dropped in May, but due to a decrease in job seekers, the unemployment rate remained stable, indicating a loosening labor market and supporting the Reserve Bank to further drop the Intrerest Rate.

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed that employment declined by 2,500 jobs, entirely due to an increase in full-time positions and a decrease in part-time positions, while economists had previously expected an increase of 21,200 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, and the labor force participation rate slightly decreased to 67%.

Although the unemployment rate remains low, it has been rising steadily since December 2024, remaining at 4% or above, while it fell to a low of 3.4% after the pandemic.

The Australian dollar and the three-year government bond yields sensitive to policy have hardly changed. The pricing in the money market suggests that there is an 80% chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will drop the benchmark Intrerest Rate from the current 3.85% to 3.6% on July 8, followed by two more rate drops.