Employment in Victoria falls by 36,000 jobs in September

Employment in Victoria has fallen by 36,000 jobs in September, with the federal Treasurer using the latest figures as a call to end Melbourne’s lockdown.

Employment in Victoria has fallen by 36,000 jobs in September, with Premier Daniel Andrews saying the alarming figures “weren’t surprising” considering the state’s disastrous second wave of coronavirus.

It followed a 37,000 drop in August, meaning more than 73,000 jobs have been lost in Victoria in the past two months.

It comes as the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealed that Australia’s unemployment rate inched higher to 6.9 per cent in September from 6.8 per cent in August.

When questioned about the figures, Mr Andrews said they “weren’t surprising”.

“We’ve had a second wave in Victoria, other jurisdictions haven’t, but it’s a call to action,” the Premier said.

“It’s a call for us to make sure we deliver a budget that is unprecedented in terms of support for those for who are out of work and those who are feeling acute pain, and that’s exactly what the budget will do – at a local level, community level, industry level and across the state as a whole that’s what the budget will be about.”

Today’s job numbers saw another devastating result for Vic with 36k jobs lost in Sep. In the last 2 months 73k jobs have been lost in Vic. In comparison 172k jobs have been created across the rest of the nation. Time for the lockdown to end & Victorians to get their freedom back.

— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) October 15, 2020

In a scathing tweet federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the latest jobs statistics were “devastating”.

“In the last two months 73k jobs have been lost in Vic. In comparison 172k jobs have been created across the rest of the nation,” he said.

“Time for the lockdown to end and Victorians to get their freedom back.”

Originally published as Employment in Victoria falls by 36,000 jobs in September