A hot labour market points to resilience in the economy and the possibility of lingering price pressures at critical juncture in the Reserve Bank's fight against inflation.
Ahead of the Australian Bureau of Statistics' March labour force dataset, Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned unemployment might "tick up a bit".
Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned unemployment might "tick up a bit". (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
This would follow an unexpectedly large fall 0.4 percentage point in the jobless rate in February to 3.7 per cent.
Employment also jumped by more than expected, with 116,000 jobs added over the month.
Economists said changing summer labour market patterns likely influenced the strong February data, which followed weaker readings in January and December.
The March data would be watched closely for confirmation of underlying strength in employment growth, as advised by National Australia Bank economists in a note.
The bank's economists expect the unemployment rate to rise over the year to around 4.5 per cent by the end of 2024.
The Reserve Bank also anticipates the jobless rate to soften as the economy slows in response to higher interest rates, reaching 4.3 per cent by December 2024 and 4.4 per cent by the end of 2025.Â
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