One Tasmanian worker in every 50 lost their job in just one week in April as the coronavirus crisis deepened.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated 2.1 per cent of Tasmanian jobs vanished between April 11 and April 18.
Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Tasmania
That took total estimated Tasmanian job losses between the week ending on March 14 - when Australia recorded its 100th coronavirus case - and April 18 to 8 per cent.
That equated to about 20,800 jobs, economist Saul Eslake said.
Of the other states and territories, only Victoria, which had lost 8.6 per cent of jobs, was hit harder than Tasmania.
Mr Eslake said it was not surprising Tasmania was hit relatively hard because of its strong coronavirus-related restrictions, especially in the North-West.
He said the first week of April - when 3.7 per cent of Tasmanian jobs went - had been the worst so far.
He was hopeful that would not be repeated.
The ABS estimated 32.3 per cent of Tasmanian accommodation and food services jobs went between March 14 and April 18, along with 27.2 per cent of arts and recreation services jobs.
In other news:
Labor Leader Rebecca White said the job figures were "awful, but not unexpected".
"These figures reinforce the need to work closely with industry to provide some certainty about when they can start to reopen."
Meanwhile, Tasmanian and national new vehicle sales tanked in April.
Just 618 new vehicles were sold in April in Tasmania, slightly fewer than half of the 1241 sold in April 2019.
National sales dropped by 48.5 per cent, comparing the two months, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' VFACTS report.
Tasmanian year to date sales were 21.3 per cent weaker than the corresponding period last year, with national sales down by 20.9 per cent.
Mr Eslake said the monthly Tasmanian sales were the weakest on record (going back to 1994).
Sales had previously topped 1000 in every month since January 2002.
Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
