Why even the best case for jobs isn’t good. Why we need more JobKeeper

Abstract

When it comes to the outlook for employment, there’s good news and bad news. To begin with the good news: with a bit of luck, the next few months will see the fastest expansion of employment in Australia’s history. The bad news? Well, there’s virtually no chance it will be enough to get employment to where it was in March, before the COVID-19 shutdown. In fact, even on a best-case scenario it’s likely by the end of September we will only be back to the worst points of the 1980s and 1990s recessions.