Australia’s unemployment rate held steady last month as employers kept hiring at almost the pace of a swelling population.

The jobless rate in October was 4.1%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. The result was in line with economists’ forecasts and matched a similar outcome for September.

The economy added 9700 full-time jobs and 6200 part-time roles, making a net change of 15,900 positions. Economists had tipped employers would add a net 25,000 jobs in October.

A slight drop in the participation rate from a record 67.2%, seasonally adjusted, reported for September to 67.1% last month helped to explain the unchanged jobless rate.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has a dual mandate to keep inflation within its 2%-3% target range but also to ensure the economy is as close to full employment as possible.

The labour market has been surprisingly strong for most of 2024, leaving services inflation in particular higher than the RBA would like to see before it can start cutting its cash rate.

Prior to Thursday’s today’s jobs data, investors were not fully pricing in an RBA interest rate cut until next August.

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