The labour market is expected to have stabilised in February, with fresh employment data predicted to show a rise in the number of people in work.
The number of Australians with a job is forecast to have jumped by 12,500 in February, according to an AAP survey of 12 economists ahead of the release of Australian Bureau of Statistics data on Thursday.
That would follow falls of 7,900 in January and 1,400 in December.
The ABS data is also expected to show the jobless rate flat at 6.0 per cent.
CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said financial markets will be the watching the job figures as they were such a key driver of Australia's strong GDP growth in the second half of 2015.
Mr Sebastian said the strong labour market had convinced consumers that they had job security, giving them confidence to spend more.
"The labour market has been a shining light for the economy," he told AAP.
"It's key story that's been providing a defining lift in growth and households are looking at the next 12 months with a degree of optimism."
The Reserve Bank again discussed the labour market during its March board meeting on interest rates two weeks ago.
The meeting minutes said some board members noted how recent low wage growth was consistent with spare capacity in the jobs market.
"Leading indicators of employment had increased further and were consistent with employment growth in the months ahead," the RBA said.
However, the latest ANZ job advertisements survey indicated the jobs market was stabilising.
The number of jobs ads in February dropped by 1.2 per cent compared to January.
But job ads were still up 8.2 per cent on the same month one year ago.
ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said while the slump could partly be blamed on heightened business caution amid global market volatility since early 2016, trend growth in job ads has been declining for six months.
"Overall, the weaker trend in job advertising supports our view that hiring is slowing," he said.
The participation rate, which refers to the number of people either employed or actively looking for work, is expected to have risen to 65.2 per cent from 65.1 per cent in December.
UNEMPLOYMENT STEADY FOR THIRD MONTH
* Unemployment rate to remain flat at 6.0 in February
* The number of people with jobs tipped to rise by 12,500
* Participation rate forecast to rise to hold at 65.2pct
(Source: AAP survey of 12 economists)
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