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Slowdown in consulting work hits big four firm as jobless rate accelerates.
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Unemployment climbs for second month, KPMG sheds staff
17 February 2023
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9 minute read
The unemployment rate has risen for the second consecutive month to 3.7 per cent in January, up from 3.5 per cent in December according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
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Head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the figure came from a fall of 11,000 in those employed combined with an increase of 22,000 in the number of jobless.
“This was the second consecutive monthly fall in seasonally adjusted employment but followed very strong growth during 2022,” he said.
The results showed the official number of unemployed hit 523,200.
However, the ABS also recorded an increase in the number of unemployed people who had a position to go to in the future, with January seen as a transitional period.
“January is the most seasonal time of the year in the Australian labour market, with people leaving jobs but also getting ready to start new jobs or return from leave,” said Mr Jarvis.
“This January, we saw more people than usual with a job indicating they were starting or returning to work later in the month.”
“The latest monthly increase in trend employment was around half of the monthly average for the 20 years before the pandemic, having been above the average for most of 2022.”
Big four firm KPMG is among those laying off staff, with confirmation it would shed about 200 positions from a total of 10,000 in a “recalibration”.
“Like many other businesses, uncertain market conditions mean that we are looking at our costs,” a KPMG spokesperson said.
“We have, for example, slowed our hiring, and we’re actively aligning our people with strongest demand areas. We are monitoring conditions closely and expect that we will need to make adjustments to areas of our firm where client demand has softened.”
The consulting division has been in the firing line as government and business review their costs.
It is understood the exact number of jobs being cut has still to be finalised although it is not expected to exceed 2 per cent of KPMG’s total staff count and no further reductions are planned.
The announcement comes as the firm prepares to take in almost 1,000 graduate recruits this month.
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