Jobless rate at 22-year high, almost 1m Australians unemployed
Almost 1 million Australians are out of work, with the nation's jobless rate reaching a 22-year high in June amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed the unemployment rate rose to 7.4 per cent last month, a 0.3 percentage point increase over May.
The bureau said 992,000 Australians were now formally unemployed, the highest number recorded since the introduction of monthly unemployment figures in 1978.Credit:Rhett Wyman
The unemployment rate is now at its highest level since late 1998 and has climbed by 2.3 percentage points since February.
The bureau said 992,000 Australians were now formally unemployed, the highest number recorded since the introduction of monthly unemployment figures in 1978. It was a 69,300 increase on the number recorded in May.
But the data does show some positive signs for the jobs market.
Total employment rose by 210,800 to 12.3 million. However, full-time employment dropped by 38,100 people to be under 8.5 million.
Under-employment fell by 1.4 percentage points to 11.7 per cent, with the ABS reporting many full-time workers were now getting their regular hours.
The unemployment rate was pushed up by a 1.3 percentage point lift in the participation rate, a sign that people are again looking for work. Monthly hours worked lifted by 69.3 million.
The bureau's head of labour statistics, Bjorn Jarvis, said the easing of coronavirus restrictions had resulted in more people in employment or more actively looking for work.
"Overall, the percentage of people employed in Australia increased 1 percentage point to 59.2 per cent, up from a low of 58.2 per cent in May," he said. "In June, around 24 per cent of the fall in employment through to May had been regained."
Among the states and territories, the jobless rate is now highest in South Australia, where it has climbed to 8.8 per cent. It is at 8.7 per cent in Western Australia, the highest level there since 1994.
The jobless rate in NSW climbed to 6.9 per cent, a half percentage point lift in the month, to reach its highest point since November 1998.
In Victoria, the jobless rate jumped by 0.6 percentage points to 7.5 per cent. It is also its highest level since November 1998.
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