Jobless rate hits 5.7 per cent

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1014986 [headline] => Jobless rate hits 5.7 per cent [abstract] => Worse than expected figures show nearly 40,000 workers have lost their jobs in the past month, as unemployment figures jumped to a five-and-a-half year high. [keywords] => jobs, unemployment [content] =>

The jobless rate has soared to 5.7 per cent, rising at a faster pace than the government predicted just a few months ago.

The seasonally adjusted rate for March is the highest level since December 2003.

It compared with 5.2 per cent in February and is 1.8 percentage points above the 34-year low of 3.9 per cent record in February 2008, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday shows.

The number of people employed dropped by a seasonally adjusted 34,700 in March.

There was a 38,900 slump in full-time workers, while there was a small rise in part-time workers.

Economists had expected total employment to fall by 25,000 in March and a jobless rate of 5.4 per cent.

The federal government is expected revise up its unemployment forecasts in the May 12 budget given the rapid deterioration in economic activity.

In February, it forecast a jobless rate of 5.5 per cent by June 2009, rising to 7.0 per cent by mid-2010.

Unemployment 'to go higher than seven per cent'

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the new figures show "Australia is battling a global recession that is resulting in falling growth and rising unemployment right around the world". 

She repeated the government's prediction that unemployment would go higher than the seven per cent forecast earlier this year.

"As the treasurer has said, the worsening global recession means that unemployment here will inevitably be higher than previously forecast," Ms Gillard said. "Forecasts will be updated through the budget."

"These figures are sobering news," Ms Gillard said.

"The global recession of course has hit jobs around the world."

The United States had an unemployment rate of 8.5 per cent, while Canada and the United Kingdom had jobless rates of more than seven per cent and six per cent respectively, Ms Gillard said.

"This global financial crisis and global recession has hit jobs around the world and of course is having a significant impact on jobs in this country."  

NSW worst hit

NSW suffered the biggest blow with the state's unemployment rate lurching to 6.9 per cent in March from 5.9 per cent in February.

Western Australia showed another solid rise in the jobless rate to 4.9 per cent from 4.1 per cent, while in Queensland it rose to 4.8 per cent from 4.5 per cent.

In South Australia it increased to 5.9 per cent from 5.7 per cent, in Victoria it rose to 5.7 per cent from 5.6 per cent and in the ACT it increased to 2.8 per cent from 2.7 per cent.

Bucking the trend, the jobless rate was unchanged at 4.9 per cent in the Northern Territory and in Tasmania it fell to 4.3 per cent from 4.5 per cent.

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The global recession is bearing down on the Australian jobs market, deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Figures released today show the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 per cent in March, the highest level in more than five years.

"Australia is battling a global recession that is resulting in falling growth and rising unemployment right around the world," Ms Gillard said in a statement.

Ms Gillard said the figures showed "the global recession is bearing down on the Australian jobs market".

She repeated the government's prediction that unemployment would go higher than the seven per cent forecast earlier this year.

"As the treasurer has said, the worsening global recession means that unemployment here will inevitably be higher than previously forecast," Ms Gillard said. "Forecasts will be updated through the budget."

"These figures are sobering news," Ms Gillard said.

"The global recession of course has hit jobs around the world."

The United States had an unemployment rate of 8.5 per cent, while Canada and the United Kingdom had jobless rates of more than seven per cent and six per cent respectively, Ms Gillard said.

"This global financial crisis and global recession has hit jobs around the world and of course is having a significant impact on jobs in this country."

Ms Gillard said the situation would have been worse without the initiatives the government had taken to deal with the economic problems, such as the two stimulus packages.

"Despite calls to do so, the Rudd government has not waited to cushion the impact of the global recession on Australian jobs, we have already acted," she said.

"Rather then sit back and wait and see, the Rudd government has acted in anticipation of these figures, not as a consequence of them.

"There are no quick fixes in the face of this global recession, but one thing we know for sure is that unemployment would be higher without this action."

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 9 April 2009 [articletime] => 9 April 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) [1] => Array ( [article_id] => 1014972 [headline] => Consumer confidence surges [abstract] => Consumer confidence rose 8.3 per cent for the first time in four months as cash payments to taxpayers boosted sentiment. [content] =>

Consumer confidence surged for the first time in four months in April as equity markets rebounded and cash payments to taxpayers boosted sentiment.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment rose 8.3 per cent to 92.7 points seasonally adjusted from 85.6 points in March.

After recording falls for the three previous months the consumer index in April posted the survey's highest reading since February 2008.

However the index remains below 100 points indicating pessimists are outweighing optimists for the 15th month in a row.

Still Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said the April result is surprisingly strong.

Confidence may be short lived

Another jump in the jobless rate today and a miserly mortgage rate cut by the retail banks this week could quickly wipe the smile from consumers' faces.

Today's figures will come as consumer confidence has soared surprisingly to a 13-month high.

The latest sentiment survey released yesterday was taken before the decision by most major banks to pass on only a fraction or nothing of Tuesday's 25 basis points cut in the official cash rate.
 

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 9 April 2009 [articletime] => 9 April 2009 [display_order] => 2 ) [2] => Array ( [article_id] => 1014493 [headline] => Rudd 'in harm minimisation' over jobs [abstract] => The government seemed to be more concerned about dealing with the consequences of unemployment than in actually saving jobs, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says.
  [content] =>

The government seemed to be more concerned about dealing with the consequences of unemployment than in actually saving jobs, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says.

Unemployment was rising and it was something that had to be addressed, he said on Monday.

There were measures in the package the government announced on Sunday which if they were properly carried out could be useful, he said.

Supporting business 'should be priority'

"The government seems to be more focused on dealing with the consequences of unemployment rather than ensuring that people stay employed," he told ABC Radio.

"But the real focus of the government's attention should, as the focus of our policy has been, on supporting business, relieving the cost of employment to some degree from the shoulders of small business, providing tax relief, removing the heavy burden of regulation and red tape."

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday unveiled a three-part jobs and training compact to address rising unemployment.

Warnings over joblessness

It includes a compact with young Australians, those who have retrenched from their jobs and local communities hardest hit by unemployment.

Mr Turnbull said a slowing economy would result in unemployment rising.

"But how far it rises and in what sectors it rises will depend in large measure on the confidence in the economy," he said.

"Remember small business is the engine of job creation. It is the most flexible, the most enterprising part of our economy."

Job ads slashed

Job advertisements on the internet and in newspapers dropped in March as employers cut back their hiring intentions.

The ANZ survey shows job ads fell 8.5 per cent to a seasonally adjusted 147,800 from February.

The annual decline was 44.6 per cent, the lowest in the survey's history.

 

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