Fall in employment accelerates as lockdowns continue

As outlined by Jodie Patron, until the economy can more fully open, employment, participation in the labour market and underemployment figures will continue to record ups and downs across all the states and territories.

The unemployment rate continues to fall, now sitting at 4.5 percent seasonally adjusted, the lowest since November 2008. But this headline disguises the true story, which is a fall in employment of 146,000 people. The problem is that people are exiting the labour market – 170,000 of them during August in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) labour force figures released this week. That is, they are no longer employed or seeking work. As well as a falling participation rate, underempl...

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Authors: Jodie Patron

Published Date: 17 September 2021