Unemployment rate reaches post-COVID era high of 4.6pc in August

The national unemployment rate rose to 4.6 per cent, up from 4.5 per cent in July, in seasonally adjusted and trend terms.

It is the highest unemployment rate in the post-COVID era.

On Tuesday, RBA governor Michele Bullock said she thought an unemployment rate of somewhere between 4.5 and 5 per cent would "take enough heat out of the labour market" to ease pressure on inflation.

In recent weeks, all four major banks and the bulk of money market traders have also announced that they expect the RBA to lift interest rates next week to try to clamp down on economic activity and squash inflation.