Jobs lost as crisis bites
SALLY GLAETZER
December 12, 2008 04:00am
ALMOST 5000 jobs were lost in Tasmania last month, showing the state is being hit by the global financial crisis.
Tasmania's jobless rate rose 0.9 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in November to 4.5 per cent, while nationally the figure rose just 0.1 per cent to 4.4 per cent.
Since August, the state had enjoyed three months of unemployment rates below the national average.
But the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures appear to show those months were an aberration.
There were more than 11,000 Tasmanians looking for work last month, compared with fewer than 9000 in October.
The bureau's seasonally adjusted employment statistics painted an even gloomier picture. The number of employed Tasmanians fell by 4700 to 237,400 in November, the ABS figures show.
Nationally, the number of employed fell 15,600 to 10.75 million.
The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it was the first piece of hard data to show the state was feeling the effect of the global economic slowdown.
"While there is always some volatility with this measure of employment, that factor alone cannot explain a change of this magnitude," TCCI chief executive Damon Thomas said yesterday.
The State Government needed to show economic leadership when it delivered its mid-year financial report on Monday, he said.
"Through these challenging economic circumstances, we need to be doing everything humanly possible to ensure Tasmanians stay in productive employment," Mr Thomas said.
The TCCI said almost one in four Tasmanian jobs were export-dependent and the state was bound to suffer as its trading partners went into recession.
The Opposition said the State Government's response to the economic risk had been "completely inadequate".
Liberal treasury spokesman Peter Gutwein suggested convening an export summit to help local businesses grow their interstate and overseas markets, reviewing Government spending and boosting the tourism industry with an aggressive marketing campaign.
In trend terms, Tasmania's jobless rate remained steady at 3.9 per cent last month.
Not surprisingly, Treasurer Michael Aird focused on those figures yesterday.
"This takes the number of Tasmanians employed to 240,600 persons, in trend terms, which is the highest level ever recorded," Mr Aird said.
"Businesses can be confident that the Government is doing everything it can to ensure the Tasmanian economy remains strong." |
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