HOBSONS Bay’s jobless queue has blown out to 2500 people, sending unemployment soaring to 6.6percent in Altona.
New small-area labour market figures from the federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations show almost 300 more unemployed residents in the 12 months to March.
The jobless blowout looks to worsen as the figures fail to take into account 350 redundancies at Altona’s Toyota plant, 150 jobs lost at 1st Fleet in Sunshine and 500 lay-offs at Qantas.
Maribyrnong’s jobless rate has hit 7.8percent. Melbourne’s west, heavily exposed to any manufacturing or retail downturn, continues to bear the brunt of Victoria’s employment decline. Unemployment has worsened across every region in the west while remaining steady at 5.2percent across the state.
Employment Minister Richard Dalla-Riva says the manufacturing industry faces a number of challenges, including the high Australian dollar and higher energy costs under the carbon tax.
But acting shadow employment minister Justin Madden said the state government’s failure to invest in jobs, infrastructure, manufacturing and skills had led to jobs disappearing and the Victorian economy going backwards.
He said there had been 15 consecutive months of falling job advertisements.
“The ANZ Jobs advertisement research found the number of job advertisements in Victoria continued to tumble, recording a fall of 4.4per cent for June or 34.6per cent for the year to June,” Mr Madden said.
“Victoria only 20 months ago was the engine room of the Australian economy and the envy of all other states. [Now] Victoria is the dead-weight of the Australian economy.”
He said declining job advertisements made it harder for the unemployed to find work, especially in light of the slashed TAFE and education funding.
