Australian unemployment rate rises again as ABS releases September jobs data

Key points

• Australia's jobless rate climbed to 4.7 per cent in September, up from 4.6 per cent in August and the highest since the post-Covid period, according to fresh Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
• Economists said the softening labour market may give the Reserve Bank reason to pause its rate increases, though several warned that inflation could still prompt another hike.
• KPMG's Brendan Rynne said the Reserve Bank would have mixed feelings, while VanEck's Russel Chesler pointed to stubborn inflation driven by oil prices and local cost pressures.