NT close to full employment despite Covid-19 pandemic, ABS figures show
The NT labour market has never been tighter with Australia’s jobless rate at its lowest point since June 2011 and the Territory’s employment rate leading the nation, new ABS figures show.
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THE Northern Territory labour market has never been tighter with Australia’s jobless rate at its lowest point since June 2011.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the Northern Territory is close to full employment.
The unemployment rate is 4.8 per cent. There are around 5400 fewer workers in the Territory’s labour pool compared to early 2020.
The NT is leading the nation with an employment to population ratio of 66.4 per cent and a participation rate of 69.7 per cent.
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The labour force participation rate is the number of people who are employed or unemployed but looking for a job divided by the total working-age population.
A total of 679,100 Australians are now unemployed, compared to 701,100 in May.
This puts unemployment almost 3 per cent lower than it was this time last year.
In June 2020, at the peak of the pandemic, national unemployment sat at 7.4 per cent.
The number of Australians who are employed rose by almost 30,000 between May and June to reach 13.15 million, according to the ABS.
In May, unemployment dropped more significantly, falling by 0.4 percentage points from the month prior.
“Today, the Australian economy has shown its remarkable resilience,” said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Thursday.
“Our economy is bigger today than before the pandemic began,” he said.
Mr Frydenberg noted that although the June statistics released on Thursday did account for the lockdown in Victoria, it did not include the current NSW lockdown.
On Twitter, the Treasurer warned Australians that the NSW lockdown was a reminder of “challenging days ahead”.
BIS Oxford Economics chief Australia economist Sarah Hunter echoed Mr Frydenberg, stating the drop in unemployment “further confirmed the strength in (Australia’s) economic recovery”.
“Looking ahead, assuming the current outbreaks are contained, it is likely that employment will continue to rise and the unemployment rate fall,” Dr Hunter said.
Originally published as NT close to full employment despite Covid-19 pandemic, ABS figures show
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