I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today about some key cyclical and structural forces affecting the Australian labour market over recent years. Not surprisingly, we spend considerable time and effort at the Bank trying to understand labour market developments given their relevance to both unemployment and inflation. Developments over the Past Couple of Years Over recent months, labour market conditions have shown some signs of improvement. Following only very modest growth last year, employment has grown by almost 0.9 per cent so far this year. The unemployment rate ticked down a few months ago and the ... (full story)