Fed: Real jobless rate 10.5% Bulletin/Morgan survey

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2001
Fed: Real jobless rate 10.5% Bulletin/Morgan survey

CANBERRA, April 24 AAP - The real unemployment rate in Australia had soared into double
figures, powered by the effects of the GST, a survey claimed today.

The Bulletin/Morgan unemployment survey, to be published in The Bulletin magazine tomorrow,
estimates the current number of jobless people at 977,000, up 77,000 since the December
quarter.

The survey estimated 10.5 per cent of the total Australian workforce was seeking employment,
up 0.9 per cent since December.

The official Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures put the current unemployment
rate at 6.8 per cent.

Pollster Gary Morgan said the ABS estimates used a much broader definition of being employed.

Respondents who had had one hour's paid employment in a given week were classified
by the ABS as employed, even though they were obviously looking for work.

Mr Morgan said his poll more accurately represented the real situation with unemployment,
and was more bad news for the federal government.

"With real unemployment at 10.5 per cent, there is little doubt that Australia is now
in recession caused by the GST," he said in a statement.

The survey also claimed a 13.4 per cent jobless rate in regional and rural areas, compared
to 8.8 per cent in the capital cities.

Nearly 16,000 people were interviewed face-to-face for the survey.

AAP dep/was

KEYWORD: JOBS POLL

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