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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
Australia’s rising unemployment rate has furthered calls for a cut to the official cash rate.
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Eighteen thousand jobseekers were forced onto the unemployment queue when the unemployment rate rose above 5 per cent for the first time since November 2010 to reach 5.1 per cent in June 2011.
The falling employment rate has been seen by some as a further case for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The RBA recently moved to hold rates steady at 4.75 per cent due to shaky global markets and a slow domestic retail sector.
While the move had been praised by some industry experts, others think more needs to be done to boost the economy.
“Uncertainty and confusion are further damaging falling confidence and will act to aggravate softness in the domestic economy in the absence of interest rate relief,” said HIA chief economist Dr Harley Dale.
The uncertain economy had also prompted interest rate futures to predict a rate cut by the RBA from 4.75 per cent to 4.25 per cent as soon as September.
Also influencing this predication is the slowing the retail sector, where consumer sentiment level has fallen to 89.6 points and their lowest level since May 2009, according to Westpac and the Melbourne Institute.
