Unemployment soars to 7.1 per cent as coronavirus downturn forces 227,7000 Australians out of work between April and May
- Australia’s official unemployment rate has surged to 7.1 per cent in May 2020
- It was the highest level since October 2001 when it stood at 7.2 per cent
- Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed 227,700 people lost employment
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Australia’s official unemployment rate has surged to 7.1 per cent in May – the highest in 19 years.
New Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed 227,700 people lost their job or gave up looking for one last month, following the second full month of coronavirus shutdowns.
May’s unemployment figure was the highest jobless rate since October 2001, when 7.2 per cent of the labour force was without work.
Australia’s jobless rate for April was revised up from 6.2 per cent to 6.4 per cent, itself the highest level since October 2014.
In March, the unemployment rate was 5.2 per cent, with those numbers calculated early in the month before the COVID-19 closures of non-essential service businesses like pubs, gyms and cinemas.
Australia’s official unemployment rate has surged to 7.1 per cent in May 2020 – the highest in 19 years. New Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed 227,700 people lost their job or gave up looking for one last month following the coronavirus shutdowns. Pictured is a Centrelink queue in Melbourne
Both the Reserve Bank of Australia and Treasury are expecting the official unemployment rate to hit ten per cent by June as the health pandemic caused an even faster downturn than the 1930s Great Depression.
This would see Australian sink into recession in the June quarter of 2020 for the first time in 29 years.
The unemployed have been receiving $1,115 a fortnight since April 27, with a $550 coronavirus supplement effectively doubling the usual $565.70 JobSeeker rate.
The government is considering a permanent increase to JobSeeker, beyond the old Newstart rate, when the temporary boost to the dole ends in September.
Although Daily Mail Australia understands the welfare payment will be considerably less than the $1,115 they are receiving now.
The change is expected to be included in a July 23 economic statement, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg repeatedly stressing the doubling of JobSeeker was temporary.
More than 1.64million Australians are now receiving JobSeeker, which also covers sickness and bereavement recipients.
That number is expected to soar when JobKeeper wage subsidies, of $1,500 a fortnight, end in September.
Inner-city Sydney and Melbourne have been the worst-hit by COVID-19, with new Australian Bureau of Statistics maps showing one in ten or 10.6 per cent of jobs in these areas were lost in just 11 weeks.
On the Gold Coast, 8.8 per cent of jobs were lost between March 14, before the border closure and coronavirus shutdowns, and May 30, the ABS payrolls data showed.
Tasmania’s south east lost 10.5 per cent of jobs as Hobart and Launceston both saw a 9.3 per cent employment plunge.
Melbourne’s north west and Victoria’s south west, taking in Warrnambool on the Great Ocean Road, both suffered a 9.4 per cent decline while inner-city Perth suffered an 8.5 per cent drop during that period.
Job losses in these areas were well above the national average of 7.5 per cent.