Unemployment rate predicted to reach 10 per cent amid coronavirus pandemic, pushing Australia into recession
ABCUnemployment is set to soar to its highest rate in almost three decades, with 1.4 million Australians expected to be out of work. Key points: The unemployment rate will rise from 5.1 per cent to 10 per cent in the June quarter, according to Treasury figures But estimates show the rate would have been higher without the JobKeeper program The Treasurer said the economic shock from coronavirus was set to be far more significant than the global financial crisis New Treasury figures forecast the jobless rate will double in the June quarter from 5.1 per cent to 10 per cent, all but confirming Australia will enter a recession as it deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be the first time the unemployment rate has hit double digits since April 1994 and the figure is a fraction below Australia's peak unemployment rate of 11.2 per cent in 1992. But Treasury's estimates show the unemployment rate would be much higher, and peak at 15 per cent, had the Government not intervened with the $130 billion wage subsidy program known as JobKeeper. Treasury's estimate follows a similar prediction by Westpac, which had anticipated the economic impact of coronavirus could see Australia's unemployment rate rise as high as 17 per cent — a figure it revised down to 9 per cent once JobKeeper was introduced.