Reserve Bank of Australia Makes Employment a Focus

Deviating from interest rates discussions, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced to make employment its key focus.

The central bank committed to maximizing labor market capacity, including the achievement of full employment this year.

The plan is part of the country’s national priorities, and the RBA will provide a strong base by maintaining a supportive monetary policy.

Australia has kept interest rates in the status quo at 0.1% and committed to sticking to it until it hits the 2% to 3% inflation target rate. Currently, the country’s unemployment rate shrunk to 5.1%, which is the same level as its statistics before the pandemic. However, policymakers are still not satisfied and eye the 4% threshold for the year. This is to counterbalance the ongoing inflation fears in the market today.

RBA’s Assistant Governor asserted that the maximization of full employment would be an important part of the economic recovery.

The sector has earlier shown a silver lining through the rise in job advertisements last month. Reports show that Australian job ads hiked by 4.3% in May in comparison to April.

Significant improvement has also paved the way in permanent job positions after hiking by 6.6% during the same month.

Lastly, full-time job positions improved by 4.6%, while part-time vacancies jumped by 0.8%. It translates to better overall hiring conditions in the country, especially as more establishments reopen.

Also, more entities are now operating at full capacity, especially in the services sector. Even the Victoria lockdown could not undermine Australia’s success with Covid-19.

Australia’s Housing Sector Booms

Analysts noted that greater improvements would enter the picture once vaccinations account for about half of the population. Currently, only about 10% of the total citizens have received full immunization.

Meanwhile, in an update on the Antipodean nation’s housing sector, prices continue to boom as demand skyrockets.

On one occasion, an old brick cottage sold for more than a million US Dollars. Its real estate agents admitted that the amount is significantly higher than they had expected.

Citizens are taking advantage of near-to-zero interest rates to acquire the homes of their dreams. This trend raised the demand and, therefore, house prices.

Experts noted that there is currently no shortage of people willing to buy properties amid the pandemic.