Global recession hits Aussie jobs: govt

12 Mar 2009, 3:07 pm   -   Source: AAP
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A near four-year high jobless rate is a reflection of the global recession, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has told parliament.

A near four-year high jobless rate is a reflection of the global recession, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has told parliament.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull had asked Mr Rudd what he had to say to working families now that he had delivered "a terrible trifecta of higher unemployment, higher debt and more strikes".

"How much closer are we to the Rudd recession," Mr Turnbull asked.

Mr Rudd said the head of the International Monetary Fund has described the global economic slowdown as the "Great Recession" and the prime minister said no country would be immune from it.

This was reflected in the increase in the unemployment rate to 5.2 per cent in February.

"If the government had sat back and done nothing and just watched, then the unemployment numbers produced today would be much worse," Mr Rudd said.

Unemployment numbers across the rest of the world should be taken into account.

Across the 30-member OECD, the January unemployment rate was 6.9 per cent, the G7 rate was 6.8 per cent, in the European Union 7.6 per cent and in the Euro-area 8.2 per cent.

In Canada the jobless rate was 7.2 per cent, in Germany 7.3 per cent, in Ireland 8.8 per cent, the UK 6.3 per cent and in the US 7.6 per cent.

Earlier on Thursday, Employment Minister Julia Gillard has asserted that the rise in the unemployment rate was evidence that the global recession is impacting on Australian jobs.

"These figures show that the global financial crisis and global recession is impacting on Australia and the jobs of Australians," Ms Gillard told reporters.

"The government always said we wouldn't be immune from the global financial crisis which has wreaked havoc on economies around the world."

There were individual stories behind each job lost, Ms Gillard said.

"Behind these statistics, each and every number that the Australian Bureau of Statistics has released is a real-life story of individuals and families."

Ms Gillard could not say what the unemployment rate would have been without the government's first $10.4 billion stimulus package.

The government had estimated 75,000 jobs would be created from the package, announced in October last year.

Ms Gillard said she was particularly concerned about job losses in the mining sector.

"We've got concerns about the economy nationally but, as you know, one of the industries hit by the global financial crisis and global recession first has been the mining industry," she said.

"China is one of our principal trading partners in commodities ... we're very concerned about the mining industry, and we're concerned to offer assistance and support to people who find themselves out of a job as a result of the downturn."

Many workers would face having their hours cut as the economy slowed.

The government had invested heavily in training places so employers would have skilled staff when the economy recovered, Ms Gillard said.

Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull says that the figures show that Rudd government policies have done nothing to create jobs.

"This is not a good number, it is very concerning," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.

"It underlines the fact that the government's policies have done nothing to create jobs."

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had said his December "cash splash" would create 75,000 jobs.

"He's been asked again and again to show that it created one job and he hasn't been able to demonstrate that it created one," Mr Turnbull said.

"This is a big jump in one month, so everyone will be looking at these forecasts and questioning whether it is too low," Mr Turnbull said.

"I am an optimist, I hope that it will prove that unemployment will rise as little as possible."

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