Australia’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 per cent in August in a sign there’s no urgency for the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates later this month.

That jobless rate was unchanged from July, according to data released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But employment dropped slightly, by 5000 jobs, and there was a shift away from full-time work to part-time.

The RBA has been cautious about the timing of rate relief and analysts widely felt the central bank would stick to the plan after the latest data — likely holding the official cash rate at 3.6 per cent for September.

“This confirms that the labour market remains tight,” BDO chief economist Anders Magnusson said.

“For now, the RBA is likely to maintain its current stance of a slightly restrictive cash rat

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