The latest round of employment data showed the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points for April, as JobKeeper’s expiry proved to have no “discernible impact” on employment between March and April.
Jobless Rate Called an ‘Economic Miracle’ as Australian Unemployment Falls to 5.5 Percent
The Australian unemployment rate has fallen for the sixth consecutive month, down to 5.5 percent between March and April, after the JobKeeper wage subsidy ended.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show that the jobless rate is now just 0.2 percent above the unemployment figures from start of the pandemic and 2 percent lower than the peak in July where it reached 7.4 percent.
One Nation minister Mark Latham said the numbers were an “economic miracle” and attributed it to the shift in national policy on immigration.
“The immigration levels are basically zero, and it’s giving Australians a chance, the first real chance they’ve had in a long while, to access these jobs without the flooding of the labour market with arrivals from overseas,” Latham told Sky News Australia.
S&P/ASX 200 trades near flat line as energy, materials shares slip
Brent crude fell 2.3% to settle at US$65.11 a barrel on Thursday after diplomats said progress was made toward a deal to lift sanctions on Iran, which could boost crude supply. Bitcoin prices slipped after the US Treasury said it is taking steps to crack down on cryptocurrency markets and transactions.
S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) weakened from a strong start this morning, with the index trading down 0.011% to 7,018.8 by about 1 pm.
This followed strong gains on Wall Street overnight, where indices snapped a three-day losing streak.
Locally, energy is the worst-performing sector, down 2.09%, while materials slipped about 1.4%.
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at 11:30 am on May 21, 2021 | 6 comments
Yesterday’s employment report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that Australia’s youth – defined as those aged 16 to 24 – are benefitting big time from the closure of Australia’s international border.
While overall youth employment is yet to return to its pre-COVID level, with total jobs still down 16,500 from their pre-COVID peak with full-time jobs down 29,300:
Youth jobs are yet to recover to their pre-COVID level.
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The youth unemployment rate hit a 12-year low in April.
This came despite the youth participation rate running 0.7% above its March 2020 pre-COVID level: