>Any Australians around who could comment on this? Are things as good as they seem?
>
>At 8:17 AM -0400 9/12/02, The Dismal Scientist wrote:
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>>The Employment Situation for Australia economic release has been updated.
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>>Employment Situation for Australia (6.2 % Unemployment)
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>>Unemployment held steady at 6.2%, and strong August hiring coupled with a major upward revision of June and Julyís job growth makes the Australian labor market appear much more sturdy than previously thought.
Well, I live in Tasmania, which has always had the highest unemployment rate in Australia, so I can't say for sure what's happening elsewhere.
But even in this state the employment situation is somewhat better lately. (Not good enough to force me to get a job thank goodness.) The reason for that here seems to be partly related to the long housing boom that is based on sustained low interest rates.
Of course this would be quite a lot more pronounced in the mainland states. Tasmania has a shrinking population, with lower house prices. In the major capital cities, especially Sydney and Melbourne, house prices have gone through the roof over the last few years and are still rising. I imagine that would flow-on to other areas of domestic consumption.
Some people are even pulling their money out of the share market and putting it into real estate of late.
But, as they say here, "things are crook in Tullarook". The rural economy is facing trouble, with another big drought starting to bite. Grain, wool and meat production is going to suffer a massive downfall this year. That won't have much if any direct effect on employment, since employment in the farm sector is miniscule, but it will mean a measurable cut in export income. Oz already had a big balance of payments shortfall, so this could be bad news. Especially if interest rates have to be increased and the housing bubble bursts.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas