File photo: Prime Minister Scott Morrison
Scott Morrison says more must be done for young people as unemployment rate falls
March 18, 2021
The Prime Minister has also defended the withdrawal of JobKeeper support at the end of March.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says more must be done to bolster Australia’s economic recovery from the coronavirus recession as unemployment figures fell to the lowest level since the pandemic struck.
Mr Morrison has also defended the impending end of JobKeeper wage subsidy support at the end of March against concerns this could lead to a spike in job losses.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.8 per cent in February – down from 6.3 per cent in January.
“There is still a long way to go… there is still a lot more to do, particularly for young people,” Mr Morrison told reporters.
The jobless rate has fallen since hitting a 22-year high of 7.5 per cent during the depths of the recession in July.
Employment jumped by 88,700 in February. More than 80 per cent of these jobs went to women and more than 40 per cent to young people.
“The strength and resilience of the Australian economy is on display again today,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Thursday after the release of the new figures.
However, there are concerns the end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy at the end of March could result in renewed job losses.
Mr Frydenberg said the end of the JobKeeper program was “unlikely to result in a sustained increase in the unemployment rate”, citing advice from an RBA monetary policy meeting in March.
He said Treasury had also told the government that if the JobKeeper program was left in place, it could hamper Australia’s economic recovery.
“If the JobKeeper program was kept in place, [it] would lead to adverse outcomes, particularly hampering mobility of labour across the economy,” he said.
BIS Oxford Economics chief economist Sarah Hunter said the end of JobKeeper could create some economic turbulence.
“But broadly speaking, the labour market continues to outperform and the recovery shouldn’t be derailed by the end of the scheme,” Dr Hunter said.
Mr Morrison has defended ending the program.
“JobKeeper must come to an end. It has done its job. The job is now taking up of the many other measures that the government has put in place,” he said.
Additional reporting AAP.
