Better news from July’s Labour Force report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday. But for the first time ever more than one million people out of work, available to work and actively looking for work.
(The actual figure was 1,009,400 people a rise of 15,700 from June’s figure).
The report however was taken before Victoria tightened its lockdown from August 5 which will boost unemployment numbers in the August report and the jobless rate.
The report shows that 114,700 jobs were filled over the month (seasonally adjusted), limiting an expected rise in the unemployment rate to 7.5% in July compared with 7.4% in June.
Hours worked increased 1.3% in July. Part-time employment rose by 71,200, beating the rise in full-time employment of 43,500 and full-time work numbers also rose – by 43,500 people.
The report showed that employment has recovered by 343,000 people and hours worked have risen5.5% since May.
The participation rate increased by 0.6 percentage points in July to 64.7%
But employment remains more than half-a-million people lower than in March, while hours worked are down 5.5% in the same period.
The improvement in the job market in July comes a day after the Wage Price Index for the June quarter showed a record slump, rising at an annual rate of 1.8% (the lowest recorded.).
The quarter on the quarter rise was 0.2%, which was also a record low, while private-sector wages fell 0.1% in another, unwanted first.
