Today’s unemployment figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that Victoria’s economic crisis impacts women most of all.
Victoria’s overall unemployment rate rose to 7.4 per cent in October, which is higher than the national figure, which sits at 7.0 per cent.
More troubling is the unemployment rate among women, which rose from 7.6 per cent in September to a staggering 8.8 per cent in October, the highest rate of unemployment among women in Victoria this century.
The total of unemployed women in Victoria was 146,500, which is the highest on record.
This total has risen by 51,000 since the start of the pandemic.
In Victoria 141,000 jobs have been lost since the start of the pandemic (March 2020). This remains by far the worst job loss for any state, with the next largest job loss number being 52,300 job losses in New South Wales.
Youth unemployment in Victoria also increased again in October and now stands at 18.2 per cent. This is the highest youth unemployment rate recorded in Victoria since January 1998.
Comments attributable to Shadow Treasurer, Louise Staley:
“Today’s unemployment figures show that Victorian women are bearing the brunt of this economic disaster.
“This disaster, a result of the second wave of COVID-19 caused by Labor’s bungled hotel quarantine program and inadequate contact tracing, has thrown 51,000 Victorian women on the job scrapheap.
“These are the women who work in industries hit hard by this pandemic, such as retail, hospitality, fitness, and other small businesses.
“Women have been abandoned by Daniel Andrews and Labor, who prioritise male-dominated industries like construction to provide jobs for their CFMMEU mates.
“This inequity must be addressed urgently. Victorian women need a plan to get back to work and back in business.”
