Questions raised over how a jobless rate below five per cent will be achieved

InvestSMART’s Evan Lucas says the “number one question” following Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s major budget shift towards a jobless rate below five per cent is “how do you get there?” “What was pre-pandemic, with what was discussed in the unemployment rate was … basically the rate to get to breakeven where there’s enough employment to start pushing at wages. “Just to highlight what that number was, that was 4.5 per cent and we were a long way off it before the pandemic. “We weren’t getting there before the pandemic, how are we going to get there in the current market with where we’re at? “That is the number one question I think they need to ask”. Mr Lucas told Sky News targeted stimulus, support for childcares, “sluggish” industries and education would be required to achieve a rate of four per cent. “You’d also be looking at industries around infrastructure which is always a quick boost,” he said. “Infrastructure is like the barometer of how things are going, when things are good it’s booming, when thing stop it goes backwards very, very quickly”.

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