Australia's Unemployment Levels Improve

Australia EconomyThe Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the unemployment rate stood at 5.6 percent in March, after being at 5.8 percent in the previous month and lower than expected, as the analysts foresaw it to be at 5.7 percent.

Employment change stood at 70.700, below the previous month's 88.700 and greater than the surveyed analysts' expectations, as they foresaw it to be at 35.000. Full-time employment dropped by 20.800 after increasing by 89.100 in the previous month, while part-time employment stood at 91.500, after falling by 500 in the previous month.

The participation rate stood at 66.3 percent, higher than the previous month's 66.1 percent and over the analysts' expectations, who foresaw it to be at 66.1 percent.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg commented that 2000 jobs per day were created since February, twice what the market was expecting, adding that 80 percent of those jobs went to women, and around half of them went to young people. This data gives Australians another reason to look to the future with hope and confidence.

The treasurer commented that economic recovery from coronavirus was far from over, though on the right track.

"We saw very strong consumer and business confidence numbers earlier this week, with consumer confidence rising to an 11-year high ... this is proof of Australia's economic recovery gaining momentum," he said, adding that there are many sectors, regions, and families that are still struggling and that are getting economic support from the government.

Australia has been very successful in terms of containing the spread of the virus. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 29,457 covid-19 cases have been reported as well as 910 deaths.  Despite this, the government has been heavily criticized due to the exceptionally slow vaccine rollout mostly due to a poor vaccine supply.

Within the current state of the economy, former Reserve Bank board member, Heather Ridout commented that it will take some time until supply chains come back to what they were before. She also mentioned that there will be a new normal and that caring about pandemics will be part of this new normal.

She also commented that, ironically, China's economic recovery is aiding Australia to surge from the pandemic. This is happening despite the diplomatic problems both countries are going through.

In vaccine rollout news, she commented that boosting it is needed in order to open the borders, otherwise, Australia's borders would need to be closed for another couple of years.

“We’ve got to get the borders open, people have got to get vaccinated, they’ve got to have the confidence to get on planes. People who are vaccinated should be able to come here,” she commented.

Ibeth Rivero

Ibeth contributes daily market commentary in both English and Spanish (both of which she speaks fluently) and she also manages the DailyForex mobile app to ensure that traders around the world are getting important market updates in real time.