Surge in unemployment could make ‘stronger case’ for a rate cut

Moomoo Chief Commercial Officer Michael McCarthy says the unemployment figures set to drop next week will be a “crucial read” for Australia’s economy. In its latest update, the ABS revealed headline inflation jumped 0.2 per cent, while trimmed mean inflation - the Reserve Bank of Australia's preferred measure which eliminates volatile price changes - fell to 3.2 per cent. “If we do see it trending up, then it certainly makes a much stronger case,” Mr McCarthy told Sky News Australia. “In the absence of a strong surge upward, I don’t think we will see any change in the rhetoric from the RBA in its meeting in February.”