Australian employment drops deeper, indicates labor market woes

Australia had monitored a 1% decline in employment over the month ended Aug. 8, data showed on Tuesday.  Meanwhile, job prospects were seen slumping the most in the southeastern state of Victoria as it struggles to contain a surge in new coronavirus cases.

The recent decline in employment underscored the worsening problems in the labor market. In addition to this, the government foresees more than a 13% rise in unemployment by the end of September, placing above the 22-year peak of 7.5% seen in July.

For the current period, the country’s payroll jobs recorded a 2.8% drop in Victoria. The state has seen the largest drop in employment since mid-March when the land down under tallied its 100^th coronavirus case.

The figures released on Tuesday came to be disconcerting as they restricted unemployment growth following a strong rebound in recent months, economists said.