Dark times as jobless at 7.1pc

WORST RATE IN 19 YEARS

MORE than 835,000 Australians have lost their jobs during the coronavirus recession, pushing the unemployment rate to its worst mark since 2001.

One in five Australians in the workforce are now out of a job or have had their hours cut.

Victoria’s unemployment rate in May jumped to 6.9 per cent as 70,800 people lost their jobs — the largest drop of any state.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the new figures were “heartbreaking”, as he warned the national unemployment rate — now at 7.1 per cent — would get worse before it improved.

“The sad truth is these numbers are not surprising in these circumstances,” he said.

“These are our dark times, but I can see that ray of light, and I’m sure Australians can see that too, but we have to keep moving towards it.”

The participation rate — representing the number of people working or looking for work — plummeted to 62.9 per cent, which is also the lowest level in almost two decades.

Australian Bureau of Statistics labour data head Bjorn Jarvis said women and young people had been hit hardest by the recession.

About three million Australians are still employed in jobs supported by the fortnightly $1500 JobKeeper wage subsidies.

The scheme and the doubled JobSeeker unemployment benefit are in place until the end of September, with the Government to announce transition arrangements for the support measures in late July.

Mr Morrison said the Government was working to “get the balance right”.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the unemployment rate would be in double figures if more than 620,000 people had not given up looking for work during the past two months.

He accused the Government of bungling JobKeeper.

“They have left too many people out. They have left too many people behind. And we see that in the numbers today,” Mr Chalmers said.

State Treasurer Tim Pallas said he was optimistic Victoria could avoid a predicted jobless rate of 11 per cent because of the JobKeeper scheme.

“Let’s not sugar-coat it, this is still a very traumatic and substantial economic event. But the expectation is that it won’t be as deep as we first thought,” he said.

“I might say that the recovery will take longer than people expect in some sections of the economy.”