Australian labour market remains on a steady course

Data released earlier on Thursday showed that Australia's labour market added 7.9k jobs in June, following a revised 19.2k increase in May. Jobs numbers for June were close to expectations.

The unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 5.8 percent in June, helped by a slight lift in the participation rate from 64.8 percent to 64.9 percent. However, the unemployment rate is unchanged from six months ago. Looking through the month-to-month volatility in the numbers, the official data and other indicators point to a fairly steady labour market.

The main policy concern for the RBA is uncomfortably low inflation. The release of the Australian CPI report on the July 27 has the potential to be more of a market mover for the Aussie.

"We expect wage growth to remain subdued for some time yet. That will continue to weigh on domestic inflation pressures. We expect the RBA to cut once more, most likely in August, although much will depend on the Q2 CPI numbers (due on 27 July)," said Janu Chan, Senior Economist, St.George Bank