On this day in 1991, The Canberra Times reported Australia's unemployment rate had fallen - but youth unemployment had risen to a level worse than was experienced during the Great Depression.
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It was reported unemployment had declined for the second consecutive month, but the actual number of unemployed people was at a level worse than the recession in 1982, and youth unemployment was at a devastating high.
"The unemployment rate reached a seasonally adjusted 9.3 per cent in June, well below market forecasts, but the cheers have been muffled by the news that the number of Australians on unemployment benefits stood at 676,700, exceeding the record 672,600 registered in February, 1984, in the wake of the 1982-83 recession," the story read.
Youth unemployment reached 28 per cent, the highest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The Minister for Employment, Education and Training, John Dawkins, explained the apparent contradiction of a declining unemployment rate and the number in work actually reducing, as well as the number of dole recipients increasing by the declining participation rate.
It was simple, he said - many people had simply given up on trying to find employment as jobs became harder to get, and had left the workforce as a result.