Frydenberg spends the budget bounty to drive unemployment down to new lows theconversation.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theconversation.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Australia hasn’t had an unemployment rate below 5% since 2011.
It hasn’t had an unemployment rate below 4% since the early 1970s.
Unemployment rate, per cent
The new wording of the fiscal strategy required in the budget as part of the Charter of Budget Honesty will commit the government to quickly drive down unemployment until the unemployment rate is between 4% and 5%.
Only when the unemployment rate is sustainably within that band will the strategy switch to a focus on reducing government debt as a share of GDP.
The existing wording, introduced in last year’s budget in response to the COVID crisis, only commits the government to drive down unemployment until the rate is “comfortably below 6%”.