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Unemployment spikes to 22-year high
Despite adding 210,800 new jobs, Australia’s unemployment rate has jumped to a 22-year high in June, national stats have revealed.
Unemployment spikes to 22-year high
Despite adding 210,800 new jobs, Australia’s unemployment rate has jumped to a 22-year high in June, national stats have revealed.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed Australia’s unemployment rate has grown to 7.4 per cent in the month of June, up from 7.1 per cent in May, as COVID-19 restrictions eased prior to Victoria’s second lockdown.
It was the biggest monthly bounce-back since records were kept, but the official unemployment rate is now at its highest since 1998.
Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said: “The easing of COVID-19 restrictions in June saw an extra 280,000 people in the labour force, with more people in employment and more actively looking and available for work.”
Hours worked rose by 4.0 per cent in June, but remained 6.8 per cent lower than March. Hours worked increased more for females (5.0 per cent) than males (3.3 per cent) over the month. Hours worked for females were still around 7.3 per cent below March, compared to 6.5 per cent for males.
Unemployment increased by 69,300 people to 992,300. Around 70 per cent of newly unemployed people in June were not in the labour force in May.
The underemployment rate decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 11.7 per cent, but remained 2.9 percentage points above March.
The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, fell by 1.0 percentage point to 19.1 per cent.
The Labour Force release includes additional analysis of hours worked, including for those working zero hours, and for flows out of employment, including those who left the labour force. It also includes comparisons with US and Canadian data for June 2020.
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