services has meant that labour markets have been resilient and remain tight. here in australia, employment growth has been strong and the unemployment rate has been 1 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches close to around 3½ per cent for a year now, which is the lowest level of unemployment for almost half a century. the participation rate is also at a record high, and many women and young people are benefiting from this. this is one of the positive legacies of the policy response to the pandemic and it is something we should all welcome. the recent data indicate that there has been some easing in the labour market, with firms reporting that it is less difficult to find workers than it was late last year. nonetheless, employment growth is still strong at a time of rapid population growth. we expect employment to continue to grow, but below the rate of growth in the labour force. as a result, the unemployment rate is forecast to rise gradually to reach around 4½ per cent late next year. the australian economy is currently experiencing a period of below - trend growth and this is expected to continue for a while yet. many households are facing a painful squeeze on their budgets and consumer demand has slowed considerably, not least because high inflation is eroding people's real incomes. the increase in interest rates is also weighing on disposable incomes for many households, although others are benefiting from the higher interest earned on their savings. the rba's staff are working hard to look beyond the aggregate figures and to understand where the financial pressures are most acute and the impact these pressures are having on people. it is clear that some households who borrowed at low interest rates during the pandemic are finding conditions very difficult, as are some renters. looking forward, the bank's central scenario is that economic growth remains subdued for the rest of this year before gradually picking up to around 2¼ per cent by end 2025. the ongoing moderation in inflation will mean that real incomes start rising again and this will ease the financial pressures that people are feeling. business investment has also been in an upswing as firms respond to the pressures on capacity utilisation. and dwelling investment is expected to increase again next year, after the recent difficulties in that sector. recent monetary policy decisions i would now like to turn to the reserve bank board's monetary policy decisions since the previous hearing in february. since that hearing, there have been six board meetings. at three of those the board

pentti hakkarainen : finnish economy – success, challenges and outlook presentation by mr pentti hakkarainen, deputy governor of the bank of finland, to the mission of the wallonia foreign trade and investment agency, awex, helsinki, 12 october 2016. * * * original presentation is on the bank of finland ’ s website : slides ( pdf ). your excellency, ladies and gentlemen let me start by welcoming you all to finland also for my part. it is a pleasure for me to have this opportunity to introduce you to some aspects of the finnish economy and its present prospects. we at the bank of finland monitor the finnish economy closely. we also contribute, with our analyses of the finnish economic outlook, to the forecasts of the euro area economy which are regularly published by the ecb. so what i am going to say today is based on the work we do in that context. the central bank also takes part in the economic policy discussion in finland, in the role of a non - political expert – hoping to advance the level of the economic policy debate in the country. as central banks are independent, we think that this gives us a niche where we can add value to the policy discussion. finland and belgium are similar countries in some respects : small eu countries, both members of the euro area, bilingual ( in our case, the national languages are finnish and swedish ), and both have almost exactly the same level of gdp per capita. economically, both countries have only limited natural resources so we both have to rely on the know - how of our people to succeed in the world. one of the biggest differences between the countries, and this is reflected in our infrastructures, is in population density : belgium ’ s population density is much higher, about 23 times more than in finland! the overall picture is a bit misleading however because in finland the population is quite concentrated in the south. but even in the most southern province of finland, uusimaa, where we are right now, and where almost a third of the population lives, the population density is less than half of the belgian one. so finns are accustomed to long distances. another difference between our countries, which is also reflected in the infrastructure, is historical : belgium was the first country on the european continent to experience the industrial revolution. because of that, it also urbanized early. finland, by contrast, experienced this big transformation only after the war, although our forest industries have a long history