Fed: Number of Aussies claiming the dole at 13-year low

AAP General News (Australia)
04-09-2004
Fed: Number of Aussies claiming the dole at 13-year low

CANBERRA, April 9 AAP - The number of Australians claiming unemployment benefits has
fallen to a 13 year low, Family and Community Services Minister Kay Patterson said today.

March employment figures released this week showed unemployment is down to a 14-year
low of 5.6 per cent.

Senator Patterson today said figures released by her department showed there were 620,439
people receiving benefits in March - a fall of 4.9 per cent since March 2003 and 15 per
cent since March 1991.

She said the number of long-term unemployed clients of Centrelink had decreased by
15 per cent since March 1999.

"The Howard government has taken action to address the unemployment rate and since
coming to office more than 1.3 million new jobs have been created," Senator Patterson
said in a statement.

"This is a far cry from the days of Labor when unemployment reached crisis levels.

"In the recession `we had to have' there were nearly one million Australians unemployed."

AAP pj/cmc o

KEYWORD: JOBS PATTERSON

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