Seasonally adjusted employment increased by 210,800 people between May and June, and the unemployment rate rose from 7.1 per cent to 7.4 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said: “The easing of COVID-19 restrictions in June saw an extra 280,000 people in the labour force, with more people in employment, and more actively looking and available for work.”
The 210,800 increase in employment was underpinned by a large increase in part-time employment (249,000 people) and a further decrease in full-time employment (38,100 people). Overall, the percentage of people employed in Australia increased 1.0 percentage point to 59.2 per cent, up from a low of 58.2 per cent in May.
“In June, around 24 per cent of the fall in employment through to May had been regained,” Mr Jarvis said.
Hours worked rose 4.0 per cent in June, but remained 6.8 per cent lower than March. Hours worked increased more for females (5.0 per cent) than males (3.3 per cent) over the month. Hours worked for females were still around 7.3 per cent below March, compared to 6.5 per cent for males.
Unemployment increased by 69,300 people to 992,300. Around 70 per cent of newly unemployed people in June were not in the labour force in May.
The underemployment rate decreased by 1.4 percentage points, to 11.7 per cent, but remained 2.9 percentage points above March.
The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, fell 1.0 percentage point, to 19.1 per cent.
The Labour Force release includes additional analysis of hours worked, including for those working zero hours, and for flows out of employment, including those who left the labour force. It also includes comparisons with US and Canadian data for June 2020.
Senator the Hon Michaelia CashMinister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business
Labour force figures released today by the ABS show that the easing of COVID-19 restrictions has resulted in some improvement in the labour market, with the level of employment increasing by 210,800 (or 1.7 per cent) in June, exceeding all market expectations.
Encouragingly, female employment increased by 124,800 (or 2.2 per cent) in June, accounting for around 59 per cent of employment growth over the month.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points, to 7.4 per cent in June. Encouragingly, this was driven by a 1.3 percentage point increase in the participation rate, to 64.0 per cent in June, as 280,100 people entered the labour force.
The Government remains acutely aware that the economic fallout from COVID-19 will continue for some time, particularly in light of the recent outbreak of cases in Victoria.
Minister for Employment, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, highlighted that the Government moved quickly to protect both the health and jobs of all Australians and put in place sustainable measures to help cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Morrison Government also announced today that it will invest $2 billion to give hundreds of thousands of Australians access to new skills by retraining and upskilling them into sectors with job opportunities,” Minister Cash said.
The new JobTrainer skills package will also guarantee support for tens of thousands of apprentices in jobs across Australia, by subsidising their wages to keep them employed and their training secured.
The package includes an additional $1.5 billion to expand the wage incentive to help keep apprentices in work. It builds on the initial $1.3 billion package announced in March.
In addition to small businesses already covered, the wage subsidy will now be available to medium businesses with less than 200 employees for apprentices employed as at 1 July 2020. Around 180,000 apprentices and 90,000 small and medium businesses that employ them will now be supported, with the program extended by six months to March 2021.
The new $1 billion JobTrainer Fund will provide up to an additional 340,700 training places across Australia to help school leavers and job seekers access pre-apprenticeships, short courses and full qualifications to develop new skills in growth sectors and create a pathway to more qualifications.
The Federal Government will continue to work collaboratively with our State and Territory counterparts, through the National Cabinet, to help put Australia back on the path to recovery from COVID-19.
