Queensland’s jobless rate drops but PM warns of pain to come

QUEENSLAND has bucked the national trend as the only state to record an improved unemployment rate between May and June.

In the Sunshine State, the unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 per cent to sit at 7.7 per cent – the third-highest in the country, according to labour figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Queensland was among the states that saw the biggest jobs gains, with about 53,000 people moving into jobs in June, seasonally adjusted.

It compared favourably with the 29,500 jobs added in Victoria, but was not as many as the 81,000 created in NSW, a state with a much higher population.

Underemployment in Queensland remained relatively controlled at 11.2 per cent, below the rate in NSW (11.3) and Victoria (12.8). It comes as Australia recorded the highest unemployment rate for 22 years, raising fears the “COVID-19 economic recession” will dampen prospects of an early recovery.

Figures released on Thursday showed Australia’s June unemployment rate rose to 7.4 per cent, a 0.3 percentage rise on the previous month.

It was the highest monthly unemployment rate since November 1998 and prompted Prime Minister Scott Morrison to label the fiscal pain caused by the pandemic as Australia’s “COVID-19 economic recession”. The number of jobless rose by 69,300 people to a total of 992,300.

“The easing of COVID-19 restrictions in June saw an extra 280,000 people in the labour force, with more people in employment, and more actively looking and available for work,” ABS head of statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

Nationally, total employment improved over the month, compared with May, with 210,800 Australians finding some form of employment, which was spurred by large increases in part-time employment.

Full-time employment fell by 38,100 jobs in the same period.

Mr Morrison said a parttime job was better than not having any job.

“The majority of jobs obviously are part-time employment, not full-time employment,” he said.