Australia’s real level of unemployment (10.8% - 1.37 million) and under-employment (7.7% - 970,000) is far higher than the official ABS unemployment estimate (6.1% - 760,000), Austgralia’s Roy Morgan Research reported. More than 2.34 million Australians are looking for work or looking for more work. Youth unemployment is particularly bad, with 16.4% of the workforce aged under 30 now unemployed. Since the election of the Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government, business confidence has fallen from a record high of 136.3 to 112.4 (down 23.9pts, or 17.5%) and ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has fallen from 124.1 to 111.8 (down 12.3pts, or 9.9%). However, in Abbott’s favor, consumer confidence also fell by around 10% during the first 18 months in office of the previous three prime ministers. Almost half of Australians nominate an economic Issue as the biggest problem facing Australia (49%).
