From Battellino overnight (I picked up a typo in the speech that I have made the RBA aware of):
"Labour market data are available up to August. They continue to point to soft outcomes for employment, after the surprisingly fast increase last year. The unemployment rate has also risen by 0.4 percentage points over the past few months, after having been steady at around 5 per cent for much of the year. These trends could be an indication of the economy having slowed recently to a pace that is below its potential. On the other hand, there are some aspects of labour market numbers that have a stronger feel. Contrary to the slowing in the number of people employed, there has been solid growth in total hours worked recently. Also, the very recent rise in unemployment has been most pronounced in the resource-rich states, while an independent indicator – the number of people on unemployment benefits – does not point to any rise in unemployment. All this suggests more information is needed before we can draw any firm conclusions about whether or not the labour market is weakening."
