The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that unemployment in the country has remained steady at 5.8%, with 1,000 jobs lost in the last month of 2015.
by arztsamui
“The trend shows that around 312,000 more people were employed in December 2015 than in December 2014. Full-time employment growth was stronger than part-time over the year, increasing by 186,600 people,” said Bruce Hockman, General Manager of ABS’ Macroeconomic Statistics Division.
According to the ABS, the participation rate decreased to 65.1% (from 65.3%); the number of hours worked increased to 1.645 billion (a slight increase of just 0.3 million); the trend of unemployment rate has fallen from 6.2 to 5.8% over the year and there were 18,500 less part-time jobs.
On a brighter note, Victorian full-time employment has passed 2 million people for the first time in Victoria’s history, with 12,700 new full time jobs created in the month of December.
According to Treasurer Tim Pallas, a total of 48,000 full-time have been created in Victoria since the Andrews Labour Government came to power.
“Finding a full-time job provides Victorians with security and the chance to participate fully in society and so any increase in the full time employment number is very welcome,” Mr Pallas said in a statement.
“With strong retail and export growth, strong employment growth, robust economic growth and strong surpluses across the next four years, the Andrews Labor Government is working hard to deliver jobs and prosperity to Victorians.”
In Tasmania, nearly 5,000 new jobs have been created. Tasmanian Acting Treasurer Jeremy Rockliff said that his Government’s number one priority is and will be: jobs.
“There has never been a better time to invest in Tasmania, to start a business in Tasmania or to get a job and raise a family in Tasmania and with our long-term Plan, the Government wants to build on that momentum but also invest in the core responsibilities of government,“ he said.
“We’ve made good progress reducing the unemployment queues and this year we’ll be focussing more on upskilling Tasmanians to match them with the jobs needed in our growing tourism, agriculture and construction industries.”
Queensland’s unemployment rate for December 2015 fell 0.1 points to 5.9 per cent, the lowest since December 2013, according to the ABS.
Acting Premier, Jackie Trad and Employment Minister Grace said a total of 60,400 new jobs have been created in the state of Queensland since the State election in January last year.
“Unemployment has fallen by 0.7 points from the high 6.7 per cent rate left by the previous LNP Government. An average of 2,010 full-time jobs have been created every month since we took office. That compares to the 330 full-time jobs lost every month under the previous Government,” Ms Trad said.
“Consumer confidence is up, business confidence is up and companies now have the confidence of a stable economy to put on new workers and explore new commercial opportunities. Today’s jobs figures are a big tick on the Government’s report card after almost a year in office.”
Click here to see the full report from the ABS.
