Following on from a bleak report from the IMF about the state of the Australian economy, Treasuer Wayne Swan said he can’t guarantee the jobless rate won’t hit double digits.
Currently sitting at 5.7 percent, the unemployment rate is expected to soar as the recession hits, with the IMF predicting the unemployment rate will reach 7.8 percent in 2010, expected to climb even higher.
Upon being asked whether he can guarantee the jobless rate won’t hit double digits Swan said, “there are no guarantees when you are amidst the most savage global recession since the Great Depression,” but that the Government would do “everything we possible can… to support jobs now.”
He said they will put in place “building blocks for the recovery” so that they can “maximise the employment opportunities that will flow from the global recovery when it comes.”
The RBA has remained slightly more positive, with Governor Glenn Stevens believing that despite the fact Australia is in a recession, we are “well placed” to ride out the economic crisis.
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