Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed dismay at the nation’s April job figures, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reporting that almost 600,000 jobs have been lost as a direct result of the coronavirus-induced economic crisis.
Morrison said it was “a very tough day” that was “terribly shocking, although not unexpected”. Seasonally adjusted employment fell by 594,300 people between March and April, or 19,810 jobs per day during that period. The unemployment rate is now up from 5.2% to 6.2%.
Consequently, the number of officially unemployed people increased from 104,500 to more than 823,3000, the largest single-month increase since October 1982, when a recession resulted in 65,400 Australians losing their jobs. In 1983, the unemployment rate reached 10.5%. Even the most conservative estimates suggest that at least 10% of Australians will lose their jobs as a result of the ongoing crisis.
The underemployment rate also reached 13.7%, the highest rate ever, after a 4.9% increase between March and April. In fact, at least 1.8 million people are now underemployed. This is in large part due to the fact that labor participation has fallen, with the total number of hours worked decreasing by an average of 9.2%. In other words, 2.7 million Australians, or one-fifth of workers who had jobs in March, either left employment or had their hours cut.
Moreover, the figures are worse than what the ABS is reporting as the 6.2% figure doesn’t include those receiving the JobKeeper payment, even if they have been furloughed. More than six million Australians, or over 20% of the population, are receiving JobKeeper payments, with roughly 1.6 million on JobSeeker unemployment benefits.
Morrison somewhat hinted at this fact when he said that the stimulus checks are “holding the nation up” and that the Australian economy is being “propped up” by “temporary” subsidies from the $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme.
These grim figures were compounded by the fact that PM Morrison said there would be no change to the JobKeeper payments, even in light of this latest report. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg aimed to lift spirits by teasing a phased easing of social and economic restrictions, wherein he said “some 850,000 people will be back in work as a result of stage one, two, and three restrictions being lifted”.
However, the Business Council of Australia has warned that the economy could contract by 20% this year–with an impact of $400 billion–if coronavirus restrictions are kept in place for six months. In addition, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) reported that job advertisements plunged by 53.1% in April, after falling by 10% in March. The previous biggest dip in job ads was an 11.3% decrease in January 2009. Thus, the economy might reopen soon, but what jobs will be waiting for millions of unemployed Australians when that happens?
Australia Records 600,000 Job Losses Between March and April
The PM lamented “a very tough day” that was “terribly shocking, although not unexpected”.
May 14, 2020
IMAGE SOURCE: THE AUSTRALIANAustralian PM Scott Morrison