Australia: Shares drop as record job losses batter sentiment

[SYDNEY] Australian shares closed at their lowest in more than a week on Thursday after data showed that jobs in the country fell the most on record in April, underscoring the economic toll of coronavirus-induced lockdowns.

Employment plunged by 594,300 jobs in April, with the unemployment rate surging to a near 5-year peak of 6.2 per cent, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed. Still, Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned citizens to brace for more bad news.

"The degree of job shedding, likely tepid recovery in growth amid numerous headwinds, and ongoing uncertainty around Covid-19 and the exit strategy will likely keep the labour market weak well into 2021", RBC said in a note to clients.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 1.72 per cent lower at 5,328.7, with nearly all sectors firmly in the red. The index has lost over 20 per cent so far this year, erasing all of the gains it made in 2019, as the country faces its first recession in three decades.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ended 0.4 per cent lower as losses in the financial and utilities sectors weighed.

The country unveiled a record US$30 billion spending package to revive an economy hit by the pandemic.

REUTERS