-- The higher interest rates and increased economic uncertainty are expected to weigh on labor demand, with the unemployment rate to average 4.5% over the final quarter of the year, ANZ Research said in a note on Thursday.
Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.3% in March, unchanged from the previous month, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. The total number of employed people increased by 17,900, bringing the total to 14.8 million.
The bank expects to see some softening in the labor market over the coming months in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East.
It expects a "subtle shift" in the Reserve Bank of Australia's characterization of labor market conditions following next month's monetary policy board meeting and it expects the central bank will drop the assessment that conditions have tightened recently.