Australia’s last three years under prime minister Scott Morrison have been appalling for workers. The decline in incomes, wealth and quality of life for the vast majority has accelerated alarmingly.
An article published today by online news and current affairs journal Independent Australia (written by this Daily Kos diarist) has now documented thirty economic outcomes which are “worst ever” or “worst since records have been kept” or “worst this century”.
Today’s article analyses ten disastrous outcomes specifically in the jobs market. They are:
1. Record number of unemployed
The highest number of jobless Australians on record before the current regime was 960,200 in December 1992 during the early 1990s global recession. It has stayed below 660,000 through most of the time since then.
It reached a new all-time high of 982,400 in June 2020, then broke the one million barrier for the first time in July.
2. Highest jobless rate this century
In July 2020, after this Government had been in office for 23 months, the jobless rate hit 7.45%, the highest since November 1998. It was down to a nominal 4.52% in August this year – but that is clearly a bogus statistic.
3. Highest number of people working zero hours
Every month shows some “employed” Australians working zero hours because of annual and long service leave and other reasons. The average for the last ten Augusts – before this year’s – is 5.74% of the workforce.
This August has shown an unusual increment, however, which suggests many of those “working” zero hours are in reality unemployed. It is up to a staggering 1,157,000 workers, which is 8.48% of the workforce. That’s an increase over the August average of 2.74%.
This strongly suggests the actual August jobless rate was 4.52% – as officially stated – plus 2.74% equals 7.26%. That is the worst real jobless rate since 1998. This ranks 25th in the OECD – the lowest ranking ever.
The other seven adverse outcomes analysed in today’s Independent Australia article are:
4. All-time high jobless women
5. Highest number of unemployed youth this century
6. All-time lowest proportion of full-time jobs
7. Underemployment all-time record
8. Worst long term jobless this century
9. Worst shrinkage in the labour force on record
10. All-time worst job participation
This brings to thirty the number of dismal records set by the Morrison Government – clearly Australia’s least competent economic managers since World War II. The others are documented here and here.
The article asserts that it is hard to overstate the damage done to Australian families by the Morrison Government’s failed economic policies – going back well before the pandemic.
It is equally difficult to exaggerate the destructive impact of the craven mainstream media outlets which steadfastly refuse to report these realities.
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Today’s analysis by Independent Australia is available here for free:
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/morrison-and-frydenberg-set-multiple-all-time-worst-records-on-jobs,15560#.YVEneYyCyjM.facebook
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“Alan Austin is a great Australian journalist and,
I think, a pirate. I steal Alan Austin’s findings all the time.”
~ Jordan Shanks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtV-2X4BjQI