Hundreds of Aussies Job Seekers Reported for Compliance, Behaviour
Only weeks after opening its Employer Reporting Hotline, Services Australia has said that it is investigating hundreds of unemployed individuals after they submitted inappropriate job applications and wasted employers time by skipping interviews or refusing to work.
Employment Minister Stuart Roberts said in a media release on Friday that it was disappointing for more than 300 people to have been dobbed through the hotline by an estimated 110 employers. A further 240 are under investigation or are receiving penalties for their actions.
“At the end of the day, Australians expect everyone who can work to get into work, and some of the stories coming out of the Employer Reporting Line are frankly unacceptable,” Robert said.
Jobless Rate Called an ‘Economic Miracle’ as Australian Unemployment Falls to 5.5 Percent
The Australian unemployment rate has fallen for the sixth consecutive month, down to 5.5 percent between March and April, after the JobKeeper wage subsidy ended.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show that the jobless rate is now just 0.2 percent above the unemployment figures from start of the pandemic and 2 percent lower than the peak in July where it reached 7.4 percent.
One Nation minister Mark Latham said the numbers were an “economic miracle” and attributed it to the shift in national policy on immigration.
“The immigration levels are basically zero, and it’s giving Australians a chance, the first real chance they’ve had in a long while, to access these jobs without the flooding of the labour market with arrivals from overseas,” Latham told Sky News Australia.
Australian Government Set to Increase Jobless Payments After Pandemic Supplement Ends in March
The Australian government is set to introduce a permanent rise in the JobSeeker payment rate by $50 a fortnight or $3.57 a day. This will be the first real increase to the unemployment payment in Australia since 1994.
It is also the largest increase since 1986 and is expected to cost the country $9 billion dollars over the next four years.
The base rate of the Australian employment payment, formally known as Newstart, was set at $565 a fortnight or $40-a-day before the introduction of the COVID-19 supplement in March 2020.
The supplement, which is scheduled to end on Mar. 28, provided an extra payment of $550 fortnight, until Sep. 25, 2020 when it tapered to $250 a fortnight. It reduced to $150 on Jan. 1, 2021.
Lower Australian Unemployment Weighs on Euro Australian Dollar Exchange Rate
A better-than-expected improvement in the Australian unemployment rate helped to push the Euro to Australian Dollar (EUR/AUD) exchange rate.
While forecasts had pointed towards the unemployment rate falling in January the dip from 6.6% to 6.4% gave the Australian Dollar (AUD) a solid boost against its rivals.
Although unemployment remains high by historical standards investors still took encouragement from the fact that the labour market has shown signs of strengthening at the start of 2021.
However, the gains of AUD exchange rates were ultimately limited by the underlying details of the jobs report.