
Australia is experiencing the greatest economic crisis since World War II due to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann announced on Thursday morning.
The treasurer outlined the debt Australia now faces, due to unprecedented government spending, plus the expected peak of the unemployment rate, during a press conference in Canberra on Thursday.
Here are the five key takeaways.
1. Australia is experiencing the worst recession since the Great Depression.
"Australia is experiencing a health and economic crisis like nothing we have seen in the last 100 years," Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
The economic statement forecasts cuts of 0.25 percent in gross domestic product in 2019/20 and a reduction of 2.5 per cent in the current financial year (2020/21).
Josh Frydenberg during the economic update on Thursday. Image: Getty.
2. Unemployment will peak in December.
The unemployment rate will peak at 9.25 per cent in the December quarter, the treasurer announced.
Currently, the official unemployment rate is at 7.4 per cent, although the effective unemployment rate stands at 11.3 per cent when you take into account those who have left the workforce or those who are on zero hours.
3. The government's actions saved 700,000 jobs.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal government's stimulus measures, such as wage subsidy program JobKeeper, saved 700,000 jobs in Australia. This means the forecast unemployment peak in December is five percentage points lower than first feared.
Still, one of the major concerns facing the federal government is job creation.
"Between March and May, 870,000 jobs were lost and more than one million Australians saw their working hours reduced," Frydenberg said.