RBA: A reminder that RBA Governor Lowe will appear before the Senate Select

At the top of the hour, we will hear from the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Phillip Lowe who will appear before the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 (linked attached).

Key comments

It is possible economic downturn will not be as severe as feared

Much will depend on whether confidence can be restored.

Confident that the inflation target band will be met of 2-3%, but it will be some time away. 

Some pick up in employment in industries most affected by the shutdown - that's good news. 

We could see weakness in construction and professional sevices.

Latest jobs data were a shocking set of numbers.

Job data were not quite as bad as first thought.

Signs of bottoming out in labour market.

Seeing some pick up in employment by most affected industries.

Pipeline of existing work for some industries is thinning out.

Will see further declines in jobs in May, but not as bad as April.

Decline in jobs could now be 15% as opposed to 20% as first feared.

Economic outlook is incredibly uncertain.