MELBOURNE - [AAP] Sluggish wages growth and soft consumer spending remain concerns for the central bank, which has left the cash rate unchanged despite a buoyant jobs market.

The Reserve Bank of Australia left the official interest rate at 1.5 per cent for a 16th straight month when it met for the last time in 2017 on Tuesday.

Governor Philip Lowe said jobs growth had been strong and that trend would likely continue, but wages growth remained weak and would not improve for a while yet.

"One continuing source of uncertainty is the outlook for household consumption," he said in a statement.

"Household incomes are growing slowly and debt levels are high."

Governor Lowe said the economy was expected to grow by an average of three per cent over the next few years and business conditions were positive.

"The outlook for non-mining business investment has improved further, with the forward-looking indicators being more positive than they have been for some time," he said.

The Australian dollar barely moved after the decision, and was at 76.45 US cents at 1500 AEDT.

 

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