JOB HOLDERS DOUBLE UP; TRIP REBOUND
Record number of multiple job holders
A record 6.5 per cent of all employed people, or around 900,000 people, held multiple jobs in the June quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In the current tight employment market, the number of jobs worked as secondary jobs passed one million for the first time. The ABS said the rate of multiple job-holding was 0.5 per cent higher than for the pre-pandemic level. Meanwhile, Australia’s official rate of unemployment for August rose slightly to 3.5 per cent, through a higher participation rate. But the ABS figures reveal differing jobless rates across the nation, from 2.7 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory to 4.9 per cent in Tasmania. The rate of underemployment was at an historic low of 5.9 per cent.
International arrivals back over one million
Monthly international arrivals into Australia have hit the one million mark for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, official figures show. In July, the nation recorded 1.08 million arrivals and 968,000 departures, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom were the leading source countries, while international student arrivals remained 50 per cent down on pre-Covid figures for July 2019.
AUKUS more than just nuclear subs, says Marles
Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has reaffirmed that the AUKUS partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States extended to beyond Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines. Mr Marles told a media interview that areas such as hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, quantum, artificial intelligence and undersea warfare also fell within the AUKUS arrangement. He said AUKUS represented an opportunity to build a common defence industrial base across the US, UK and Australia, with “appropriate regulation in all countries around how defence industry operates.”
National Cabinet extends pandemic payments
National Cabinet has extended the Covid-19 pandemic leave disaster payment at current rates beyond September 30, the Prime Minister has announced. Anthony Albanese said the payment of up to $750 per week would remain available as long as mandatory isolation periods were applied by all states and territories. But recipients would now be entitled to claim only three payments within a six-month period. The PM said the government agency, Services Australia, had revealed that 2.6 per cent of claims made in the last two months had triggered real-time fraud checks.
Tech sector can drive battery production surge, says Husic
Industry Minister Ed Husic has implored the technology sector to help power growth in Australia’s battery sector, to meet the net zero emissions target by 2050. Mr Husic told an industry forum that the technology sector had become the seventh largest employer in the nation, with one in 16 Australians working in tech sector jobs. He called on the technology sector to apply its expertise to transform Australia’s reserves of critical minerals and rare earths into a national battery manufacturing industry. The Minister said that within eight years, battery industries could contribute $7.4 billion a year to Australia’s economy, and create up to 35,000 jobs – if Australia got the value chain right.
US prices edge up again
The rate of US inflation has risen slightly again, a month after being unchanged in July. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 0.1 per cent rise, seasonally-adjusted, in the Consumer Price Index for August, bringing 12-month inflation to 8.3 per cent. While fuel (gasoline) prices declined, food, electricity, and natural gas prices all increased.