“The unemployment rate is less than what we feared it would be when we first went into this crisis,” according to Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.
On Thursday the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced Australia’s unemployment rate had risen to 7.4 per cent, the highest it’s been since November 1998.
More than 992,000 Australians are now formally unemployed, with underemployment figures expected to be much higher.
“Back in March, a treasury was advising us to expect an official unemployment rate of about 10 per cent by the end of June,” Mr Cormann told Sky News.
Mr Cormann said the June numbers proved Australia’s economy was heading in the right direction and had incredible resilience.
“On the back of the easing of restrictions throughout the latter part of May and June, 280,000 people went back into the labour market, workforce participation went up, 210,000 jobs were restored and indeed hours worked went up, underemployment went down,” he said.
“We continue to deal with the economic impact of the global pandemic which has had devastating effects around the world, and which has had a very negative impact on the economy and jobs here in Australia.
“But, if you compare what’s happening here with what’s happening in other parts of the world, if you compare what’s happening here with what we feared might happen earlier this year then we are in a comparatively better position."
