Record-low interest rates and the fastest-growing property prices in more than three decades have also fuelled a surge in financial services jobs. The sector has added almost 88,000 workers through COVID-19 to now employ a record 557,800 people – about the same number as mining and agriculture combined.
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Victoria and NSW have been the largest winners from the surge in financial services, accounting for almost every one of the new jobs through COVID-19. Queensland’s job market has been swelled by almost 84,000 extra healthcare workers while in Western Australia there are almost twice as many mining workers as those in manufacturing.
Campaigning in Melbourne in the ultra-marginal Liberal seat of Chisholm, Mr Morrison said a multibillion-dollar investment in a Moderna mRNA vaccine plant was a “shot in the arm” for Australian manufacturing.
“We’ve got liftoff,” he said.
In Sydney, where Mr Albanese committed Labor to 1.2 million technology-related jobs by 2030, the Labor leader said the nation’s future depended on its ability to manufacture goods locally.
“I want a future made in Australia. I want to make more things here. I want to have more jobs here,” he said.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese says Australia has to retain a strong manufacturing base.Credit:Louie Douvis
CommSec chief economist Craig James said employers should be alert and a little alarmed at the changes taking place across the jobs market as they tried to attract new workers.
“The job market is tight and a near-record number of jobs are vacant and looking to be filled,” he said. “To attract and retain staff will require a lot more effort than applied in the recent past. Higher wages and better conditions may require the business to lift prices.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is putting the finishing touches on his budget speech, said Australians could expect to see strong improvements to the budget’s bottom line on Tuesday, thanks to a low unemployment rate.
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The unemployment rate is currently at a 14-year low of 4 per cent and forecast to drop below 4 per cent this year.
Australia’s border reopened at the end of February after being closed for nearly two years, stalling migration and the movement of overseas skilled workers and students.
The Treasurer said the border reopening meant international tourists could come back, but it would also help fill gaps in Australia’s workforce.
“There are many, many businesses that are looking for more workers,” he said. “But what we’re seeing with the budget is a material improvement to the bottom line as a result of a strong economy.”
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Manufacturing jobs promise faltering as COVID-19 hits sector hard
Source: Philippines Alive
