Harder To Find Full Time Jobs In Australia
October 9th, 2008 | Published in Jobs
Australia lost 15,400 full-time jobs in September, the worst performance in two years according to figures released by government statisticians today.
With demand slowing, Australian businesses have been cutting employee numbers and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in September from 4.1% in August.
The figures would have been even worse had it not been for an increase in part-time worker numbers – 17,700 new part-time positions were created, leading to an overall increase in jobs of 2,200.
Australia’s central bank cut interest rates by a whole one percent yesterday in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the credit crunch on Australia’s economy.
The Australian currency has taken a pounding on the foreign exchanges recently, losing 12 percent against the US dollar and 10 percent against Sterling since the start of October. Since late July the Australian dollar has dropped 28 percent against the US dollar and 16 percent against Sterling.
The falling value of the Australian dollar has been good news for migrants who are looking to move money into Australia. A combination of falling house prices, a falling Australian dollar and falling interest rates means houses in Australia have become hugely more affordable for migrants with some money to bring into the country than they were just three months ago.
Job ads suffered their largest fall for more than seven years in August, according to the ANZ Bank and a number of well known firms have announced job losses, including Ford, Quantas, Holden, and the ANZ Bank. Unfortunately, Australian economists believe the worsening global financial crisis will lead to even more job cuts. It’s likely that the Reserve Bank will be forced into making further interest rate cuts.