Unemployment rate drops to 6.6%

The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the unemployment rate has dropped to 6.6% as just over 50,000 jobs were created in December.

These new jobs mean that 90% of jobs that were lost because of COVID have now been regained. And they’ve been regained at a pace much faster than the RBA, the Treasury, and economists in general have predicted.

The underemployment rate has also improved, which indicates that workers who had their hours cut during COVID are back to full-time employment.

The unemployment rate is correlated with household expenditure and the property markets. And it’s a feedback loop: when people are employed and feel secure in their jobs, they spend more. More spending results in more opportunities for jobs, which leads to more spending, which leads to more jobs, and so on.

Dr Sarah Hunter, of BIS Oxford Economics, said “The bounce back in jobs is very welcome, and when compared with other countries it confirms that Australia’s economy is a relative outperformer.”

As the labour market and the economy in general continues to recover, we are sure to see further gains to the property market.