Youth unemployment has been identified as a focus area for the COVID-19 City Taskforce.
\nThe Taskforce was formed by City of Newcastle and consists of 17 leaders and CEOs working to deliver localised responses to the economic and social challenges posed by COVID-19.
\nHunter Research Foundation\u2019s Lead Economist Dr Anthea Bill, who has been providing briefings to the Taskforce, highlighted in a forum with Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes on Monday that 18.7% of young people aged 15 to 24 in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie are now unemployed.
\nNationally, swathes more have been left underemployed with their work hours reduced due to widespread closures and social distancing measures, bringing the national youth underutilisation rate \u2013 that is, unemployment and underemployment combined \u2013 to a staggering 37%, affecting more than one in three young people.
\nThe Lord Mayor said this had been felt most profoundly throughout the City across the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors.
\n\u201cWe know from the City Taskforce\u2019s joint, industry-specific response to COVID-19, that some sectors have been impacted more than others, and naturally this has affected specific population groups such as youth,\u201d the Lord Mayor said.
\n\u201cThis has been a driving force behind the Taskforce\u2019s advocacy work, directing support where it\u2019s most needed.\u201d
\nSince its inaugural meeting on 17 April, the Taskforce has jointly penned a letter to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, urging the NSW Government to consider the plight of international students in the COVID-19 climate \u2013 many of whom have lost casual jobs and are unable to return home \u2013 and provide urgent financial assistance.
\nLooking at the bigger picture, the overall unemployment rate for Newcastle and Lake Macquarie jumped from 3.6% in January to 7.7% in April, with 9,900 people estimated to have lost their jobs between March and April.
\n\u201cNo economy is prepared to deal with the fallout from a global pandemic,\u201d the Lord Mayor said.
\n\u201cHowever, owing to City of Newcastle\u2019s strong financial position going into COVID-19, we are committed to delivering a record capital works program next year as part of our broader range of community support, which will help create local jobs and provide training to ensure our youth have the necessary skills to be employable in the emerging economy.
\n\u201cThis in addition to our joint advocacy work with the City Taskforce, neighbouring Councils and State and Federal members to attract stimulus funding for catalyst areas, including the Newcastle Airport expansion and Port of Newcastle diversification, on top of the City\u2019s $2.5 million investment in graduate, apprentice and trainee recruitment this financial year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Youth unemployment has been identified as a focus area for the COVID-19 City Taskforce. The Taskforce was formed by City of Newcastle and consists of 17 leaders and CEOs working to deliver localised responses to the economic and social challenges posed by COVID-19. Hunter Research Foundation\u2019s Lead Economist Dr Anthea Bill, who has been providing … Continue reading “City of Newcastle tackles COVID-19 unemployment through action and advocacy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}