(Adds details, quote from Debelle)
SYDNEY, March 24 (Reuters) - Australia's unemployment rate will likely need to fall from 5.8% currently as far as the "high threes" for wage growth and inflation to pick up, a senior central bank official said on Wednesday.
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deputy Governor Guy Debelle told a parliamentary committee he expected the country's labour market to continue to outpace expectations, though there was still a long way to go.
"What we do know is that at 5% unemployment rate we weren't generating much upward pressure on wages," Debelle told lawmakers in Canberra.
"And so in all likelihood it's a number lower than that. How much lower? We have an open mind on and we'll just have to wait but it would be great if that number is in the low fours or even high threes."
Australia's jobs market has grown at a rapid clip in recent months led by the country's success in curbing the coronavirus pandemic and solid monetary and fiscal stimulus.
Data out last week showed employment surpassed all expectations to jump for a fifth consecutive month in February while the jobless rate fell much more rapidly than expected. together with a run of strong macroeconomic data in recent weeks have challenged the RBA's lower-for-longer monetary policy pledge.
On Wednesday, Debelle reiterated the RBA would keep the cash rate at a record low of 0.1% until actual inflation was sustainably within its 2-3% target band. The RBA does not expect that to occur before 2024, he added.
"The unemployment rate has come down faster than we would have thought by this time and we are hoping that trend continues, that we continue to get surprised," Debelle said.
"We still think this recovery is going to be bumpy and uneven and I don't think we are through the bumps and unevenness yet so it may not be a straight line from here."