The latest labour force data from Roy Morgan showed that Australia is simply not producing enough jobs to soak up the record number of workers arriving via the Albanese Government’s mass immigration policy.
The below table tells the tale, with the population aged 14-plus growing by 741,000 in the year to September and the workforce growing by 412,000.
However, total employment only grew by 50,000, meaning the number of unemployed surged by 362,000 (+2.1%) over the year:
As explained by Roy Morgan CEO, Michelle Levine:
“There are 50,000 more people in jobs. There are 362,000 more people unemployed. Clearly the growth in the population and the workforce is outstripping the economy’s ability to provide jobs to all these new entrants and the number of unemployed Australians has grown significantly as the economy remains weak”.
“As the economy is in a per capita recession, according to some economists, it’s likely there will continue to be pressure on the economy to provide enough jobs for all those in the increasing population and workforce that are looking for work”.
“A massive figure of 2.89 million Australians are unemployed or underemployed. That’s 18.9% of the workforce in September and is the most important problem facing the federal government”.
Meanwhile, the latest employment data from SEEK posted a continued fall in Australian job ads. And reflecting the strong growth in labour supply, the number of applicants per job is now tracking well above pre-pandemic levels:
Applications to job ads has historically been a good leading indicator for Australia’s unemployment rate, as illustrated in the next chart from Macquarie Group’s Justin Fabo:
Source: Justin Fabo (Macquarie Group)
Therefore, Australia’s unemployment rate should rise quite sharply as we head into 2024.
The days of low unemployment are coming to an end courtesy of the Albanese Government’s record immigration program.
The resulting combination of rising unemployment, slowing wage growth, and soaring rents will be disastrous for Australian workers.
