Australian Business News and Times

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Unemployment rate

Strugglestreet in Australia as Unemployment hits 12 year high

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Unemployment  figures in australia has never been more worse with Unemployment surging to 6.4 per cent, its highest level since August 2002.

centerlink Unemployment

In Australia, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.Australia’s top statistical data agency, The Bureau of Statistics estimates that the jobless rate jumped from 6.1 per cent in December to 6.4 per cent in January.

A record 12,200 jobs are estimated to have been lost in January and there is growing concern about the economic ­outlook. The dollar touched a low of US76.26c last week, struck after the RBA cut interest rates for the first time since August 2013.

Things are looking grim  with not only jobs being lost, but the mining industry also being hit hard, particularly the iron ore industry.The price of iron ore — Australia’s largest export — more than halved in value last year, and was 67 per cent below a record high of $US191.70 stuck at the peak of the mining boom in 2011.

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[pic from http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2015/02/unemployment-rate-jumps-6-4/]

At 6.6 per cent, Victoria’s unemployment rate is now level with that of Tasmania, which is slowly recovering. Only South Australia has a higher rate, at 7.3 per cent.

Australian Employment Rate Steady for last eight months

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After having  the Employment rate at a healthy   rate for the last eight months, the  Unemployment rate has reached a high in July. The rise in the unemployment  rate has been just 5.1 percent in July from 4.9 percent a month earlier.

The ABS monthly aggregate hours worked series showed an increase in July, up 3.6 million hours to 1,621.4 million hours.

unemployment construction workers

The number of workers fell by 100 after a revised 18,200 gain in June. According to reports even though there was a reduction in full time jobs , it was compensated by a rise in part time jobs.

While the retail sector in Australia has been showing a downtrend  the mining sector is still booming with more jobs  available as the projects get in motion.

“The increase in resources exports will boost GDP outcomes over coming quarters, although the rebound is likely to be more protracted than previously expected,” the RBA said last week in its quarterly monetary policy statement. Australia’s third-largest oil producer, and BG Group Plc, the U.K.’s third-biggest gas producer, will start hiring the first of more than 10,000 construction workers needed for this massive  two projects later this year

The ABS reported the number of people employed remained relatively unchanged at 11,450,500 in July. A decrease in full-time employment, down 22,200 people was offset by an increase in part-time employment, up 22,100 people.

Here are some key figures from abs.gov.au