Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is speaking on the surprise news that Australia’s unemployment rate has risen to 5.2 per cent.
He described the data as telling “a tale of two cities”.
“In Victoria, in the month, around 50,000 jobs were lost and an additional 20,000 people were stood down on zero hours,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“In New South Wales, in the month of October, more than 21,000 new jobs were created and more than 60,000 people who were stood down on zero hours went back to work.”
The Treasurer said it was important to note that the data period which references unemployment was at a time when 13 million Australians were in lockdown.
