PM holds out travel hopes as job numbers recover

Travel hopes for vaccinated Australians

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is exploring the re-opening of some international travel under a post-vaccination scenario, seeking health advice on vaccinated returning Australians being able to avoid quarantine. The PM said National Cabinet would await advice on the potential for returning Australians to be able to quarantine at home, as well as visitors from low-risk countries with similar vaccine arrangements. After New Zealand, Singapore was “an obvious next choice” for relaxed travel restrictions.

Unemployment rate drops again

Australia’s jobless rate is approaching pre-Covid 19 levels, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting a seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent in March, down 0.2 percentage points on February. In March 2020, the national rate was 5.2 per cent. Last month, the Australian Capital Territory recorded the lowest unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent, while South Australia recorded 6.3 per cent. In a promising economic indicator, underemployment dropped from 8.5 per cent to 7.9 per cent. April’s unemployment figures will be the first to reflect the removal of JobKeeper in late March.

Payroll jobs and wages in full-year recovery

Complementing the jobless figures, payroll job numbers at the end of March were one per cent higher and total wages 2.1 per cent higher than 12 months previously, marking a full-year recovery since the start of the pandemic. The ABS said payroll job numbers had risen highest in Western Australia (3.2 per cent) and the Northern Territory (three per cent) over the previous year, while total wages had jumped 4.2 per cent in South Australia and 3.6 per cent in Victoria.

Tehan seeks to advance free trade agreements

Trade Minister Dan Tehan is moving to accelerate free-trade agreements with the European Union and the United Kingdom at meetings in Europe this week. Mr Tehan said Australia’s network of free trade agreements covered 26 countries and accounted for 70 per cent of the nation’s two-way trade. He is also meeting with the World Intellectual Property Organisation to help Australian businesses in protecting their intellectual property rights internationally, as well as seeking greater supply of EU-sourced Covid-19 vaccines.

International visitors still arriving

While international borders are officially closed, some traffic is permitted. In February, for example, the ABS recorded 6,260 visitor arrivals to Australia, with 8,390 resident returns. Arrivals from New Zealand, the US and the UK comprised 45 per cent of visitor arrivals; pre-pandemic, Australia was receiving more than one million visitors a month, with more than 1.3 million residents returning monthly.

Services sector dominating economy, says PC

A major report released by the Productivity Commission has underlined the importance of the services sector to Australia’s economy. The report by the Federal Government’s independent advisory body says that services – outside of mining, agriculture and manufacturing – account for 79 per cent of value-adding and 88 per cent of employment. But the PC says the service industry has been hit hard by Covid-19 restrictions and by lower productivity, although technological developments (such as online learning and digitisation) had the potential to increase efficiency.