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Australia's jobless rate is expected to hold flat for July when official figures are released.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is widely tipped to report a national unemployment rate of 3.5 per cent on Thursday.

However, ANZ economists expect it to rise to 3.6 per cent, with employment growth increasing by 5000 and the participation rate holding at 66.8 per cent.

They point to leading labour indicators, such as ANZ's job vacancies and NAB's business survey, deteriorating in recent months.

Westpac economists forecast the unemployment rate to creep up to 3.8 per cent by the end of the year and hit 4.7 per cent in late 2024.

Any rise in jobless numbers will add more clout to the argument the Reserve Bank has finished its interest rate hiking cycle it began last year.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the ALP national conference in Brisbane on Thursday it was a "difficult time for many Australians", as global factors intensified cost-of-living pressures.

But he said inflation was moderating, wages were rising and the government was seeking to take the edge off rent, power, child care and health costs as well as permanently boosting welfare support.

"Our responsible economic management is working for Australia and already seeing progress made, but there's much more to do," he said, moving a more tightly worded party economic platform than that approved in 2021.

The government is expected to hand down the first surplus in 15 years when the final budget outcome is released in late September.

However, the economy is expected to weaken in coming months, with a new survey showing high levels of concern among managers about the potential for a recession.

The KordaMentha TMA Australia turnaround survey found 70 per cent of respondents anticipated a recession in the next 12 months, including 19 per cent who felt it would occur within six months.

Sectors facing the most stress included construction, consumer discretionary and commercial real estate, on the back of a rising cost base, higher wages and cashflow problems.

A recession is defined by two consecutive quarters where gross domestic product (GDP) falls.

The last official quarterly growth figure was 0.2 per cent, with the June quarter figure due to be reported on September 6.

© AAP 2023

A spectator screening of the Matildas' clash against Sweden is under threat after more than 50 flares were set off at a Melbourne fan site.

Thousands of fans flocked to Federation Square on Wednesday evening to cheer on the women in green and gold in their history-making Women's World Cup semi-final against England.

However, the event was dampened by police having to contend with unruly young men in the crowd.

Officers were constantly trying to ensure fans' safety, but spectators breached temporary fences multiple times.

More than 50 flares were set off, with some thrown into the crowd.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said she wasn't aware of anyone being injured.

"Overall, it was a challenging night for our members out at Federation Square, where we saw a large, rowdy group of mainly male youths, part of the active supporter groups, discharge and throw a significant number of flares," she said.

Police doled out fines of more than $960 to four males, aged between 16 and 23, for possessing flares, and cautioned another 16-year-old boy for throwing a flare.

Detectives are investigating the use of flares at Federation Square and have secured CCTV footage.

Police were otherwise happy with spectator crowds at bars and pubs around Melbourne and at AAMI Park.

"There were no incidents of note at AAMI Park, other than a penalty notice issued to a male who was in possession of a flare," the spokeswoman said.

Fans were expected to gather at Federation Square again on Saturday to watch the Matildas take on Sweden in a bid to secure third place in the World Cup.

However, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp suggested the event might not go ahead because of the behaviour at Wednesday night's screening.

"(It's) really disappointing," Ms Capp told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

"So if we could find those idiots and make sure they don't attend, then Fed Square will be going off again, but unfortunately, sometimes the few ruin it for the rest of us.

"We're looking at all of the logistics at the moment - the police are really having a good think and will give some advice, but there'll be lots of live sites for people to enjoy the football this weekend to watch those brilliant Matildas."

In NSW, fans endured long delays getting home from Sydney's Olympic Park on Wednesday night after a suspected act of vandalism threw the rail network into disarray.

The incident at Ashfield affected trains from about 10pm, about the time the semi-final, which England won 3-1, wrapped up in front of a crowd of more than 75,000.

Two men aged 47 and 33 were assisting NSW Police with their inquiries after officers were told cables in a railway signal box were cut and equipment was damaged.

© AAP 2023

Reeling from the heartbreak of falling short in the Women's World Cup semi-finals, the Matildas believe they can still reap silverware from their golden generation.

That starts with picking themselves up and beating Sweden in Saturday's third-place play-off game to ensure they don't leave their home tournament empty-handed.

Australia's run that has captured the nation was brought to a screeching halt in Wednesday's devastating 3-1 loss to England.

Plenty of the Matildas top players are either on the wrong side of 30 or not far off it - meaning the 2023 World Cup is a golden opportunity that has passed Australia by.

Lydia Williams (35), Clare Polkinghorne (34), Aivi Luik (38), Kyah Simon (32) and Tameka Yallop (32) are the squad's oldest players.

But stars Sam Kerr (29), Steph Catley (29), Katrina Gorry (31) Caitlin Foord (28), Alanna Kennedy (28), Hayley Raso (28) and Emily van Egmond (30) will be at the tail end of their careers, or retired by the 2027 World Cup.

"Everyone's gonna be hurting. I think the veterans probably more - we don't really have another World Cup in us," Gorry told reporters.

"So it's a tough one to swallow at the moment.

"But, we'll all get around each other, we'll make sure that we're ready to go for the next game. Because we want that bronze medal.

"It's dangling right in front of us, Australia has got us here so far, we're not gonna let them down."

It took England three consecutive semi-finals, after heartbreak in 2015 and 2019, to finally break through for a World Cup decider.

When asked whether the Matildas would be better for the experience and stronger for it, Polkinghorne shrugged and said "I think we will.

"But I don't know - being at home, a lot of people were getting behind us and supporting us and it was just incredible the amount of support we got."

"So we'll learn from it and be better."

Catley, at her third World Cup, pointed to emerging talents like Mary Fowler and Kyra Cooney-Cross as reason why Australia wasn't done yet.

"It does take a while and I think we've made enough quarter-finals, enough round of 16s," she said.

"You learn a lot from those moments and some of these young girls that have just stepped in and they've now played in a semi-final, they're gonna learn so much and they're gonna be so much more prepared for the next time it comes around and that's something that a lot of us haven't had.

"So the fact that they've got that now so early in their careers is massive.

"Some of the players that we've seen come through: Mary, Kyra, the way they've performed, Clare Hunt, there's so many.

"They just stepped up - they look so ready, they've got long careers ahead of them and yeah, hopefully we're developing loads more girls that can come in and step in when they need to.

"Hopefully us old ducks can hold on a little bit longer and push for some more trophies."

Australia will commence qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics later this year.

But first comes a tight turnaround to face Sweden, who lost to Spain on Tuesday, in Brisbane on Saturday evening.

"We're not leaving here empty-handed," Cooney-Cross said.

© AAP 2023