By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Australian employment blew past all expectations in August while the jobless rate held steady as more people joined the labour force, a mix that works against wage growth even as it supports consumer spending power.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released on Thursday showed 44,000 net new jobs were added in August when analysts had looked for an increase of 15,000. Of those 33,700 were in full-time position.
The larger-than-expected jump will be a relief to policymakers who are counting on the ongoing labour market tightness to ultimately lift wage growth which is crawling near record lows.
Annual jobs growth of 2.5 percent was still well ahead of the U.S. pace of job creation of 1.6 percent.
The unemployment rate held steady at six-year lows of 5.3 percent in August, but only because more people went looking for work. The participation rate rose to 65.7 percent, matching a record high hit earlier this year.
July employment growth was revised downwards to show a drop of 4,300.
While unemployment has been slowly falling, it has not translated into bigger pay awards. Wage growth remained stuck around 2 percent while inflation has undershot the central bank's 2-3 percent target for more than two years now. Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has held rates at a record low 1.5 percent since last easing in August 2016 as it awaits a revival in consumer prices and further falls in unemployment.
Markets imply scant chance of a move until 2020, with interbank futures 0#YIB: only showing a 50-50 chance of a hike by Christmas next year.