4 years ago
UNEMPLOYED AUSTRALIANS REACHES RECORD
BRENDAN O’CONNOR MP
Unemployment has reached its highest rate in more than 20 years with nearly one million Australians out of work, and yet the Morrison Government is attempting to spin this as a good result for Australians.
Minister for Finance, Mathias Cormann, on Sky News this morning was already patting himself and the Morrison Government on the back saying:
“The unemployment rate is less than what we feared it would be when we first went into this crisis. Back in March, Treasury was advising us to expect an official unemployment rate of about 10% by the end of June.”
Here’s the reality of the situation. While the official unemployment rate for June is 7.4 per cent, the effective unemployment rate is already higher than Treasury’s predictions.
The effective unemployment rate is much higher than the official measure suggests, given hundreds of thousands of workers have stopped looking for work since the virus hit, in part reflecting the lack of available jobs.
There are 13 JobSeekers for every one job vacancy in Australia, according to the latest government data, and millions of workers and thousands of businesses are anxious about being left out and left behind in Australia’s first recession in three decades.
The figures are also a lagging indicator, reflecting the first half of June, and not accounting for more recently imposed restrictions, particularly those in Victoria.
Now is not the time for boastfulness or cracking out the cigars.
The Morrison Government must outline a comprehensive plan to promote growth, create decent jobs and drive down unemployment.
The devastation in the job market is being exacerbated by growing uncertainty for businesses and workers about the future of key Government support programs, including JobKeeper, HomeBuilder and JobSeeker.
Scott Morrison’s decision to sit on his secret JobKeeper review for weeks has seen businesses already start to lay off workers.
Having introduced support for the economy too narrowly and too slowly, Australians can't afford for the Government to withdraw that support too quickly or too bluntly.
Minister for Finance, Mathias Cormann, on Sky News this morning was already patting himself and the Morrison Government on the back saying:
“The unemployment rate is less than what we feared it would be when we first went into this crisis. Back in March, Treasury was advising us to expect an official unemployment rate of about 10% by the end of June.”
Here’s the reality of the situation. While the official unemployment rate for June is 7.4 per cent, the effective unemployment rate is already higher than Treasury’s predictions.
The effective unemployment rate is much higher than the official measure suggests, given hundreds of thousands of workers have stopped looking for work since the virus hit, in part reflecting the lack of available jobs.
There are 13 JobSeekers for every one job vacancy in Australia, according to the latest government data, and millions of workers and thousands of businesses are anxious about being left out and left behind in Australia’s first recession in three decades.
The figures are also a lagging indicator, reflecting the first half of June, and not accounting for more recently imposed restrictions, particularly those in Victoria.
Now is not the time for boastfulness or cracking out the cigars.
The Morrison Government must outline a comprehensive plan to promote growth, create decent jobs and drive down unemployment.
The devastation in the job market is being exacerbated by growing uncertainty for businesses and workers about the future of key Government support programs, including JobKeeper, HomeBuilder and JobSeeker.
Scott Morrison’s decision to sit on his secret JobKeeper review for weeks has seen businesses already start to lay off workers.
Having introduced support for the economy too narrowly and too slowly, Australians can't afford for the Government to withdraw that support too quickly or too bluntly.