Westpac still sees Australian unemployment drifting higher - The Sydney Morning Herald

The surprise fall in Australia's jobless rate is unlikely to be the start of a prolonged downtrend, Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk said, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. 

Key quotes

While rate cuts along with the government’s tax offset payments should help to support demand, we think it will be insufficient to get economic growth moving back to trend or above in 2020.

We continue to see the leading indicators of employment point to a near term softening in employment growth.

We will see unemployment drift higher through the first half of 2020.

Australia's jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 5.1% in December from November's 5.2%, forcing markets to scale back expectations for an RBA rate cut in February.