CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point for the third time since June to a new record low of 0.75%, seeking to boost a flagging economy.

The cut on Tuesday follows reductions by the Reserve Bank of Australia in June and July. Previously the bank had not shifted the rate in almost three years.

Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe has said he wants to use rate cuts to get the economy growing fast enough to push the unemployment rate down to 4.5%. The jobless rate now is 5.3%.

The Australian economy is suffering from the end of a mining boom, largely to supply China, that carried the country through the global economic crisis without a recession.