Daily Dispatches: unemployment takes a tumble

Australia's unemployment rate has surprisingly fallen, adding to signs that the worst of the economic downturn has passed and raising the prospects of more interest rate rises.The country's jobless rate fell to 5.7 per cent last month, from 5.8 per cent in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today. Economists were expecting the rate to edge higher to 5.9 per cent. (Business Day)

Three months ago, the Westpac Bank boss, Gail Kelly, was named the world's 18th most powerful woman by the influential Forbes magazine - outranking US first lady Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, talk show queen Oprah Winfrey and even real royalty, her majesty the Queen. But somewhere between a $10m salary package and maintaining mortgages in the suburbs, the nation's most powerful businesswoman has slipped on a proverbial banana peel entirely of her own making. (The Age)

National Australia Bank will review its low mortgage rates before the Reserve Bank's next meeting in February and it will not rule out matching the higher rate rises of its rivals. And the bank has unveiled an ambitious strategy to take market share from its major rivals by launching NAB on Wheels - mobile bank branches positioned near those of competitors. (The Australian)

Bank of Queensland says economic conditions in the coming year and cost reduction and efficiency gains should provide better trading conditions. (Sky News)

Bank of Scotland sold $1.4bn of March 2011 bonds backed by an Australian government guarantee. (Bloomberg)