SYDNEY — Australian job advertisements suffered their largest drop in more than a decade in March amid strict social distancing rules and business closures to combat the coronavirus. Tuesday's figures from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group gave a foretaste of the pain to come in the labour market as whole sections of the economy shut down. Total job ads dived 10.3% in March month-on-month, the steepest decline since January 2009 when the global financial crisis was raging. That left ads averaging 142,504 in March, down a steep 18.2% on the same month last year. The jobless rate stood at 5.1% in February before rolling shutdowns threw many out of work.

Source: International New York Times April 07, 2020 02:01 UTC