Australian Unemployment Decline Supports RBA Rate-Pause Call

Australian unemployment declined in October and the economy added more jobs than anticipated, suggesting the labor market remains tight and vindicating the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged. Stocks and bonds slumped.

The jobless rate fell to 4.3% from 4.5% in September and was better than the predicted 4.4%, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. Employment advanced by 42,200 — led entirely by full-time roles — more than double the expected 20,000 gain.