CENTRELINK in Werribee is providing welfare to more jobseekers than any other branch in Victoria, new figures reveal, as Wyndham’s worst unemployment crisis in years continues to bite.
Labour force data shows more than 900 people in Wyndham lost their jobs in the year to March, increasing the municipality’s unemployment rate to 9 per cent, well above the national 5.7 per cent. The figures reveal a sharp rise from five years ago, when Wyndham’s unemployment rate was about 5.3 per cent.
The jobs slide is also reflected in new Centrelink data showing 4150 jobseekers on Newstart or Youth Allowance at the Werribee branch in May, an increase of 160, or 4 per cent, on the previous month.
Phil Lewis, of the University of Canberra’s Centre for Labour Market Research, said the western suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney were bearing the brunt of the country’s unemployment troubles.
“When the national unemployment rate goes up from 5.2 to 5.7, there’s an intuitive view that it’s affecting everybody, but it’s not,” he said.
“It’s highly concentrated on people in manufacturing and manual-type jobs, which are disappearing at quite a quick rate.”
Werribee-based jobs service MatchWorks reported an increase in the number of people in need of more work after having hours trimmed or being transferred from permanent to casual contracts. More people have also been laid off from manufacturing and automotive industries.
Josh Russo, 27, is living in Werribee South while seeking construction work in Melbourne.
A certified carpenter with nine years’ experience as a labourer and bricklayer, he moved from Brisbane last month with the promise of a job but the position fell through.
“I heard there was meant to be more work in Melbourne, but everyone’s saying they don’t have anything on offer.”
