RBA's Debelle says unemployment could fall further before wages pick up

RBA Dep Gov Debelle speech on the labour market in Australia

• Says labour market in pretty good shape
• Expects employment to grow a bit above trend over next six months
• vacancy rate at highest relative to size of the labour force
• above average economic growth to gradually reduce labour spare capacity
• Says expects this will lead to gradual increase in wages and inflation
• Says unemployment could fall further than in past before wages pick up
• Says chance jobless rate could decline faster if participation steadies

full text: The State of the Labour Market

The point about Debelle's comments here is he doesn't doesn't see rising wages, which would be a precondition (so the current thinking goes) for a pick up in core inflation and thus a move from the RBA to hike rates.

So, key takeaway, hikes a good while off