ABS reported that unemployment increased by 0.3% from 7.1% in May to 7.4% in June, rising by 69,300 people to 992,300 as more people search for work. Total employment rose by 210,800 people, bolstered by a rise in part-time employment and a fall in full-time employment. Percentage of people employed in Australia increased by 1 percentage point to 59.2%. Hours worked rose 4% in June but stayed 6.8% lower than March. Underemployment and underutilization rate decreased to 11.7% and 19.1%, falling by 1.4% and 1% respectively.
Housing Industry Association (HIA) announced that there was a slight lift in dwelling starts in the March 2020 quarter, but new starts continue to be eclipsed by completions. More number of new homes were completed than new projects getting started. Thus, presently there are less active building sites around the country. The number of detached houses under construction has declined by 20% since the building cycle peaked in mid-2018. Seeing the drop in the sales activity during the lockdown between March and May, HIA expects that the next update to this data shall demonstrate that building activity declined further during the June quarter.
Helloworld has launched a $50 million capital raising, signaling the continued freezing of the global travel industry has throttled its earning potential. The travel group noted travel restrictions were likely to remain in place through 2020 and 2021, further impacting its underlying operations. Helloworld said the liquidity injection would boost its capital position to $187.1 million, with the funding intended for operating and capital expenditure through to the end of 2022. The equity raising will consist of 30.3 million new shares representing 24.3 per cent of Helloworld’s existing shares on issue. The capital raising consists of an approximate $27.1 million share placement to institutional investors at $1.65 per share. Approximately $22.9 million will be issued via an on-market entitlement offer.
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