00:00 This cafe is losing a much loved employee. Jack Creed just quit so he can move back home.
00:07 Because I can't afford to live in Melbourne anymore, so I'm moving back to Echuca.
00:14 Jack's boss is now filling the role.
00:17 A year ago we didn't get a single response for an ad. Now we've been inundated with people looking for work.
00:24 So do you feel that people are a little bit more desperate for work at the moment?
00:27 Definitely, definitely.
00:29 Around 65,000 jobs were lost before Christmas, but almost 66,000 people also stopped looking for work in December.
00:38 This prevented the unemployment rate from rising from 3.9%.
00:43 Things are turning away from workers compared to a few months ago.
00:48 The labour market is now decidedly less tight than it was at the start of 2023.
00:54 The figures have seen some correction after very high figures that came forward in October and November.
01:02 This is the biggest loss of jobs in a month outside COVID since the early 1990s.
01:08 The stark reality is that this is part of the Reserve Bank's plan to cool down the economy
01:14 and these figures may take pressure off the central bank to keep hiking rates.
01:20 Matt Johnson, who works in construction, is worried about job cuts.
01:25 If there's a massive downturn I'll possibly get laid off.
01:28 Hopefully there's an incline in employment, but yeah, it's not looking great.
01:33 Matt's mother, who cuts his hair for free, is down one worker on a year ago.
01:39 We used to have another hairdresser work with us and now there's not the demand for it so I'm just doing it myself.
01:46 Some economists are tipping the unemployment rate will rise to 4.5% by the end of the year.
01:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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