Interest rates could be cut to 0.75 per cent within a fortnight as unemployment ticks up and the economy struggles to shake itself out of its rut, despite the Morrison government delivering the best budget bottom line in a decade.

Commonwealth Bank, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are now predicting an October 1 rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) over growing concerns that not enough jobs are being generated to drive down the unemployment rate and lift wages.

Josh Frydenberg has delivered a balanced budget. Credit:AAP

The market's expectations of a rate cut next month doubled to 80 per cent on Thursday after lacklustre employment figures pushed the jobless rate to a 12-month high of 5.3 per cent. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported more than 15,500 full-time jobs disappeared across the country in August while the number of under-employed hit a record high of almost 1.2 million.

Despite the 0.1 percentage point monthly rise in the jobless rate, strong overall employment growth and tax receipts throughout 2018-19 took the federal budget to a deficit of $690 million - its best position since the global financial crisis.