Australian unemployment rises to 2-year high
(APW_ENG_20090115.0275)
1) Unemployment in Australia inched up to a two-year high of 4.5 percent in December, official figures showed Thursday, but fewer jobs were lost than economists had expected amid the global slump.
2) Economists and the government said the data showed the downturn was dragging on Australia's economy despite the better-than-expected numbers.
3) The government's Australian Bureau of Statistics said the unemployment rate was a seasonally adjusted 4.5 percent in December, up from 4.4 percent in November. The economy lost 1,200 jobs in December, with full-time employment falling by 43,900 but part-time employment rising by 42,800. Economists had expected total employment to decline by 20,000.
4) "What these figures are telling us is that the Australian economy is not immune from the global financial crisis," acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters.
5) She said the government expected things to get worse, with unemployment forecast to rise to around 5 percent by mid-2009.
6) The data showed that part-time employment rose by almost 43,000 in the period, a shift economists said signaled cost cutting by bosses.
7) "There's no doubt that employers at the moment are certainly not hiring any new staff and whatever staff they currently have on board they are moving to a much more flexible work force," CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said.
8) The global downturn that began to bite last year has brought about a swift reversal of fortunes for Australia's economy, which has enjoyed 17 consecutive years of growth fueled by voracious demand for its mineral exports from China and elsewhere.
9) Since late last year, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced billions of dollars in tax cuts and new spending and the central Reserve Bank has slashed interest rates to try to protect Australia from recession. So far the economy has slowed but remains afloat.
10) Banks, miners and other big businesses have rushed to cut costs and raise cash to protect themselves from the financial crisis.


Australian unemployment rises to 4-year high
(APW_ENG_20090312.0114)
1) Unemployment in Australia rose to its highest level in nearly four years, official figures showed Thursday, in yet another sign of the global economic downturn.
2) The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in February, up from 4.8 percent the previous month. Total employment rose by just 1,800 to 10.8 million, but full-time employment decreased by 53,800. Part-time employment was up 55,600.
3) Economists had forecast that the jobless rate would rise to 5 percent and that total employment would fall by around 20,000.
4) The global downturn that began to bite last year has brought about a swift reversal of fortunes for Australia's economy, which has enjoyed 17 consecutive years of growth fueled by voracious demand from China and elsewhere for its mineral exports.
5) Although Australia is not yet officially in a recession, figures released last week indicate it could be headed that way. Australia's economy shrank 0.5 percent in the last quarter of 2008 -- the economy's first contraction in eight years. Australia considers its economy in recession if it experiences two consecutive quarters of contraction.
6) The bad news came despite the efforts of the federal government and the Reserve Bank of Australia to bolster the economy. The government passed two multibillion dollar stimulus packages in the last few months, and the central bank cut its key interest rate by 3 percentage points from September to December last year.
7) "Any job loss in Australia is one too many as far as I'm concerned, but had we waited and done nothing instead of acting decisively, these unemployment figures would be much worse," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
8) Prospects for employment remain gloomy, with the federal government predicting a jobless rate of 5.5 percent by June, and 7 percent by the same time next year.
9) The latest figures showed states most associated with mining and manufacturing were hit the hardest, with Western Australia experiencing the biggest jump in unemployment -- surging to 4.2 percent in February from 3.3 percent in the previous.


Australian unemployment jumps to 5-year high
(APW_ENG_20090409.0149)
1) Unemployment in Australia rose to its highest level in more than five years in March, reflecting the continuing fallout from the global economic crisis.
2) The Australian Bureau of Statistics said Thursday that unemployment rose to 5.7 percent from 5.2 percent in February -- the highest level since October 2003, when the jobless rate reached 5.8 percent.
3) Economists had predicted a jobless rate of 5.4 percent in March.
4) Total employment dropped by 34,700 to 10.8 million. Full-time employment decreased by 38,900, while part-time employment rose by 4,200.
5) "These figures are sobering news," Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters in Canberra. "This global financial crisis and global recession has hit jobs around the world and, of course, is having a significant impact on jobs in this country."
6) In February, the federal government predicted a jobless rate of 5.5 percent by June, rising to 7 percent by mid-2010.
7) "There was never any doubt that employment would weaken, though we had thought the decline would continue to be more gradual," said John Edwards, HSBC chief economist of Australia and New Zealand. "We expect the unemployment rate to increase towards at least 7.5 percent in the first quarter of next year."


Australian jobless rate at 7-year high 5.7 percent
(APW_ENG_20090611.0200)
1) Australia's unemployment rate rose to a seven-year high of 5.7 percent in May, government figures showed Thursday, reflecting job cuts at companies amid the slump.
2) "We've always said we were not immune from the global recession," said Employment Minister Julia Gillard, which said the increase was in line with market expectations.
3) The government predicted last month that the unemployment rate will peak at 8.5 percent in mid-2011, leaving 1 million people looking for work. In April, the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 5.5 percent.
4) A survey released Wednesday showed Australian consumers swung from pessimism to optimism for the first time in 17 months after the economy avoided slipping into recession in the first quarter.
5) The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment posted its biggest increase in 22 years in June, leaping to 100.1 points from 88.8 from May. A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists.


Australia ' s jobless rate remains steady
(APW_ENG_20090806.0208)
1) Australia's unemployment rate held steady at 5.8 percent in July, bucking expectations of an increase amid the economic downturn, according to government figures released Thursday.
2) Economists had expected the seasonally adjusted rate to reach at least 6 percent.
3) Part-time employment increased 48,200 to 3.203 million, while full-time jobs dropped by 16,000 to 7.590 million, apparently a reflection of employers cutting hours rather than positions.
4) The Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed that total employment rose by 32,200 to 10.794 million.
5) Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the static figure proved that the government's stimulus spending was working to support jobs and applauded employers for holding onto employees in preparation for an eventual economy recovery.
6) "The figures indicate that Australian companies have taken sensible steps to retain skilled workers where possible and in some cases offering for workers the option of converting to part-time employment," she said. "It's far better for a working person to be kept in a job than to be unemployed."
7) Analysts hope the July result means the jobless rate may not deteriorate to the 8.5 percent peak in 2010 forecast by the federal government.
8) "The Australian labor market continues to defy the odds," ANZ economist Riki Polygenis said.
9) But Gillard warned that the global recession continued to affect the domestic labor market.
10) "Even the most optimistic economic forecasters expect the global recession to hit our economy," she said. "When even the most optimistic forecasters are saying that, it's very important for the government to continue to support jobs today."
11) The government's stimulus spending has focused on infrastructure to create jobs and boost local economies.


Australia jobless rate rises slightly to 5.3 pct
(APW_ENG_20100311.0170)
1) Australia's unemployment rate edged up slightly to 5.3 percent in February, the first rise since peaking at 5.8 percent last October, the government said Thursday.
2) Just 400 jobs were added in February, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Economists had expected the jobless rate to edge up to 5.4 percent with 10,000 jobs being created in February.
3) Federal Employment Minister Julia Gillard called it "a steady result," also noting a slight increase in the number of hours worked.
4) "We are seeing employers move to taking on more full-time employees and reducing part-time work," Gillard told reporters.
5) The data showed the creation of 11,400 full-time jobs, but an 11,000 drop in part-time workers. January's jobless rates was revised down to 5.2 percent after initial figures last month put the rate at 5.3 percent.
6) "I think this is showing us the benefits of cooperation between employers, employees and unions during the global financial crisis, where many businesses moved to lesser working hours so that they could hold people in work ... and now as they can they are moving peole to a greater number of hours," Gillard said.
7) Australia narrowly avoided recession during the global economic crisis, recording only one quarter of contraction -- in the three months through December 2008.
8) Since late 2008, the government has rolled out a more than 40 billion Australian dollar ($37 billion) stimulus spending program, and the central bank slashed interest rates to try to protect the economy.


Welsh migrant becomes Australia ' s first female PM
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1) Julia Gillard was a sickly child when her family left her native Wales in search of a warmer climate. She thrived and went on to become Australia's first female prime minister.
2) Gillard was 4 years old, the younger of two sisters, when the family left the Welsh coal port of Barry for the South Australian state capital of Adelaide. She had been hospitalized with pneumonia as a child.
3) Gillard studied law at universities in Adelaide and Melbourne, where she became a leader in the national student union movement. At 29, she became a partner in a prominent Melbourne law firm and specialized in industrial law. Gillard was a Labor Party state political staffer before entering the federal parliament in 1998.
4) She became deputy Labor leader under former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after striking a deal with him in 2006 to topple then-leader Kim Beazley.
5) Gillard lives with a common law partner, Tim Mathieson, a hairdresser by profession. They have been together since 2006.
6) Gillard, 48, decided as a teenager that she never wanted children. Her stance has led to attacks from political opponents who say she is unsuitable to lead because she lacks empathy with Australian families.
7) Unlike her opponent Tony Abbott and predecessor Rudd, who are both observant Christians, Gillard has declared herself atheist.
8) She has been accused of being a communist over ties to the far-left group Socialist Forum -- allegations she denies. Gillard has also been branded an abortion advocate for her founding role in the pro-choice group Emily's List Australia.
9) The Rudd-Gillard leadership team led Labor into government at general elections in 2007.
10) Party power-brokers blamed Rudd for dragging down the government's popularity in recent opinion polls, and Gillard seized the leadership unopposed when she challenged him on June 24 in a party ballot.


Obama congratulates Australian PM on forming govt
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1) President Barack Obama on Tuesday congratulated Julia Gillard on becoming Australia's newest prime minister and on forming a government after a 17-day deadlock.
2) The White House said Obama telephoned Gillard to relay his personal commitment to the relationship between the U.S. and Australia. And he said he looked forward to working with Gillard at the G-20 and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summits in November.
3) Gillard managed Tuesday to persuade two holdout independent lawmakers to support her center-left Labor Party to form the first minority government in the House of Representatives in 67 years. Gillard also is Australia's first female prime minister.
4) "The President and Prime Minister agreed to work closely to ensure our common security and prosperity, in the Asia Pacific and around the world," the statement released by the White House press secretary said.