The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released today show that the unemployment rate has risen to 5.8 per cent, with 734,200 Australians unemployed.

Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann said since the election of the Abbott-Turnbull Liberal Government 47,600 more Australians have joined the unemployment queue.

“Of particular concern is the climbing youth unemployment rate which has jumped from 12.4 per cent to 13.2 per cent," Mr Neumann said.

With 280,500 young people unemployed, Australians need more than the Turnbull Government’s cruel plans to force young people to live without any support for a month, while also encouraging them to take up exploitative supermarket ‘internships’.

The number of underemployed people remains of concern with 1.067 million of our fellow Australians wanting more work but unable get it, due in part to that fact that there have been 18,900 full time job losses since December.

Despite campaigning for the past two months on ‘jobs and growth’, the average unemployment rate under the Abbott-Turnbull Government compared to the last Labor Government is much higher at 6 per cent compared to Labor’s average unemployment rate of 5.1 per cent.

Shayne Neumann said this is despite the then Labor Government navigating the Global Financial Crisis.

“The reason there is such a drastic difference is because Labor always puts people first and jobs at the heart of policy decisions.

“The Government’s jobs and growth slogan has absolutely nothing underpinning it.

“At a time when wages growth is at record lows, now is not the time for the Liberal’s attack on wages and conditions.”

Underemployment, insecure work, and low wages growth are of concern to Labor because it is not good for people and it is not good for economic growth.

"The Liberals are bereft of a jobs plan. In fact everything on their agenda has been about attacking pay, work and conditions – they want to cut penalty rates; they want young people doing exploitative internships instead of getting real jobs; and they were responsible for workers being dragged off vessels and sacked in favour of foreign crew.

“Labor will always be the party of jobs.

“We will strive to secure a future for unemployed Australians through a fairer, more equitable employment market.”

Shayne Neumann said he would encourage the Liberals to adopt Labor’s policies such as the New Jobs Tax Cut and Working Futures that will actually drive jobs and growth and deliver for people in Ipswich and the Somerset Region.