Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting of the Reserve Bank Board

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Members Present

Glenn Stevens (Chairman and Governor), Philip Lowe (Deputy Governor), Martin Parkinson PSM (Secretary to the Treasury), John Akehurst, Jillian Broadbent AO, Roger Corbett AO, John Edwards, Heather Ridout, Catherine Tanna

Others Present

Guy Debelle (Assistant Governor, Financial Markets), Christopher Kent (Assistant Governor, Economic), Jonathan ...

Employment increased by 58,000 in April, mostly in full-time work. This was the second consecutive month of notable gains after four months of little change. With more people searching for work, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 7.3%.

Compared with 12 months earlier, employment was up 1.2% or 214,000. All of the growth over the 12 months was in full-time work, up 217,000 (+1.6%), while part-time employment was unchanged. The total number of hours worked rose 1.5% over the same period.CSV version of the chart

The employment gain in April was primarily in the goods sector, with increases in construction, manufacturing, natural resources and agriculture. ...

Consumer prices in April 2012: +2.1% on April 2011

Inflation rate has remained above two-percent mark for 15 months

In April 2012, consumer prices in Germany were up 2.1% on April 2011. The inflation rate thus has been above the two-percent mark since February 2011. In March 2012, the inflation rate as measured by the consumer price index had also been 2.1%. Compared with March 2012, the consumer price index increased ...