Australia's unemployment rate rises to its highest level in two decades

Australia on June 18 reported the steepest rise in the unemployment rate in the last two decades after the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recorded a 0.7 percentage points increase to 7.1 percent in May 2020. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, seasonally adjusted employment fell by 2,27,700 people between April and May, taking the total decrease to 8,35,000 people since March. As per the data, the women population is more adversely affected by the labour market deterioration than men. 

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"In two months, the percentage of people aged 15 and over employed in Australia decreased from around 62.5 percent to around 58.7 percent. The ABS estimates that a combined group of around 2.3 million people - around 1 in 5 employed people - were affected by either job loss between April and May or had fewer hours than usual for economic reasons in May. The underemployment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points in May, to 13.1 percent, but remained 4.3 points above March.," the ABS report stated. 

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The Australian economy was already in shambles since the country suffered a major blow by bushfire last year with the tourism sector down in the continent-state. Many economists have also predicted a significant decline in the second quarter of the financial year, saying that unemployment looms large in the country. Australia shut down its borders and restricted movements of people to curb the disease outbreak, but it also took a major toll on its economy. 

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COVID-19 in Australia

The coronavirus outbreak became a major problem in Australia when cases jumped from being 100 in early March to 7,000 in May. According to figures by Johns Hopkins University, Australia has recorded 7,391 confirmed coronavirus cases so far, of which 102 people have lost their lives. The mortality and infection rates in Australia are relatively lower than in other major countries in the world.

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