In recent months, there are signs of some softening in inflation, with headline inflation easing to 4.25 per cent in May 2023 from the peak of 7.8 per cent in April 2022. 9. The cumulative impact of our monetary policy actions over the last  one year is still unfolding and yet to materialise fully.
In such circumstances, assessing conditions in the labor market can be helpful in forming those judgments. Employment growth has exceeded the growth in working-age population this past year by almost ½ percentage point. While somewhat less than the spread between these growth rates over much of the past few years, this excess is still large enough to continue the further tightening of labor markets.