Birmingham: Fall in unemployment justifies ending JobKeeper

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham says Australia’s falling unemployment rate justifies the federal government’s decision to end JobKeeper wage subsidies. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed unemployment fell by 0.2 percentage points to 5.5 per cent between March and April 2021. Youth unemployment also decreased whilst underemployment figures dropped to its lowest in seven years. “These are very encouraging figures,” Mr Birmingham told Sky News. “It’s a trend that has seen the unemployment rate decrease for seven consecutive months now and shows there’s real strength in the Australian economy and labour market. “It demonstrates also the need for us to continue to invest in our economic recovery particularly against the global landscape that we face of uncertainty.” However, Mr Birmingham concedes more work needs to be done to stimulate job growth back to pre-pandemic levels. “Certainly we know there is still a way to go to get the unemployment rate itself back down to where it was pre-pandemic, to make sure that we are driving participation and growth in jobs right across the board,” he said. “That’s why last week’s budget had some $40 billion in temporary COVID-related measures… they’re all about backing Australian businesses to create even more sustainable, ongoing jobs for Australians.”

from Breaking National News and Australian News | Daily Telegraph https://ift.tt/2SWCLfl