RBA Seen Holding Rates as Easing Cycle Falters

Rates balancing act struggles as job ads dry up and shoppers put wallets away

The Reserve Bank will hold interest rates steady on Tuesday. But it will start to fret over the state of the jobs market and cost-conscious consumers.

RBA Seen Holding Rates as Easing Cycle Falters

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Reasons why inflation is high and an interest rate cut is off the table for the RBA

They are the inflation numbers than have dashed the hopes of homeowners with mortgages, effectively slamming the door on a rate cut and signalling the end of the central bank’s easing cycle. Last week’s 3.2 per cent headline consumer price index figure came in hotter than expected, ending hopes of rate relief on Tuesday. More troubling for homeowners, the Reserve Bank’s preferred “trimmed mean” measure, which strips out the most volatile price m…