The ABS has published its labour force participation figures for August 2020. The Victorian unemployment rate was 7.1 per cent for August, an increase from 6.8 per cent in July.
The August result for Victoria was above the national average of 6.8 per cent. The unemployment rate increased over the month to August in Victoria and Tasmania, while the rate in all other states and territories decreased.
|
Jul-20 |
Aug-20 |
Month on Month difference |
||
|
% |
% |
Percentage points |
||
|
New South Wales |
7.2 |
6.7 |
-0.5 |
|
|
Victoria |
6.8 |
7.1 |
0.3 |
|
|
Queensland |
8.8 |
7.5 |
-1.3 |
|
|
South Australia |
7.9 |
7.9 |
0 |
|
|
Western Australia |
8.3 |
7 |
-1.3 |
|
|
Tasmania |
6 |
6.3 |
0.3 |
|
|
Northern Territory |
7.5 |
4.2 |
-3.3 |
|
|
Australian Capital Territory |
4.6 |
4.2 |
-0.4 |
|
|
Australia |
7.5 |
6.8 |
-0.7 |
The number of employed people increased across all states and territories except in Victoria, reflecting the economic recovery underway across the rest of the country, while Victoria remains in lockdown. The number of employed people in Victoria decreased by 42,400. In contrast, New South Wales recorded an increase of 51,500 employed people.
The ABS also had a section on “hours worked” and “people working zero hours for economic reasons”. This data is an attempt understand how people have been affected by the lockdown, such as who has a job but can’t actually perform their work due to the emergency and may be receiving JobKeeper.
This data showed that 3.5 per cent of all people employed in Victoria were working zero hours in August, when the national average was 1.7 per cent. The chart illustrates how improvement is occurring everywhere except Victoria at the moment. The chart also shows how the initial impact of COVDI-19 was negative everywhere.
