Australian unemployment unexpectedly declined in November as the labor market persisted in defying slower economic growth, validating the central bank’s decision to pause interest rate reductions.

Employment jumped 39,900 last month, compared with economists’ estimatesof a 15,000 gain, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. The jobless rate fell to 5.2% compared with a forecast 5.3%, while participation was unchanged at 66%. The ABS said bushfires had resulted in minor data collection disruptions in New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT.

The central bank, in its quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy released last month, forecast unemployment to hold around 5.25% through the end of 2020 and for wage growth to remain around 5.3% through 2021. However, the RBA said in the December minutes that this level wouldn’t be able to maintain inflation inside its 2%-3% target band.

It had urged the government to lift fiscal stimulus to support the rate cuts, but so far Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has resisted as he aims to return the budget to surplus for the first time in over a decade.

The Australian dollar traded at 68.72 U.S. cents at 11:36 a.m. in Sydney, from 68.57 before the release.

Source: Bloomberg