Coronavirus-driven job losses have hit Tasmania's North-West and Hobart particularly hard, new figures suggest.
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The combined North-West and West Coast lost 3000 jobs in March and April, according to original terms figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
That cut estimated employment in the region by 6.1 per cent to 46,300.
The Greater Hobart area, not counting the South-East, was estimated to have lost 4900 jobs.
That decreased its total employment by 4 per cent to an estimated 116,400.
The figures suggested Launceston and the North-East did not fare as badly.
Total employment in that region was estimated to have fallen by 1200 (1.7 per cent) to 70,500.
The monthly original terms figures tend to be volatile and should be treated with some caution.
Twelve-month averages are generally used to smooth out the volatility, but the averages do not yet reflect the effects of the virus lockdown, which forced thousands of Tasmanians out of work.
The most recent Tasmanian employment figures from the ABS based on payrolls suggested jobs were starting to increase again and that the peak of the crisis might have passed.
Economist Saul Eslake said the figures suggested the state lost about 20,500 jobs between March 14 and April 18, but gained 2000 in the following two weeks.
The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry had estimated Tasmania could lose up to 35,000 jobs because of the economic crash.
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe on Thursday said: "We are living through the biggest and the most sudden economic contraction since the 1930s."
"Unlike previous contractions, this one is not being caused by a financial event or by macroeconomic policies.
"Rather, it is the result of society's efforts to contain a pandemic.
"Last week we had a stark reminder of the very human cost of these efforts, with almost 600,000 jobs lost in April and more than 750,000 Australians on zero hours."
Dr Lowe said total hours worked in Australia fell by an unprecedented 9 per cent in April.
"The labour market data that post-date April's labour force survey suggest a further decline in hours worked in May, although the decline does not look to be as large as it was in April," he said.
"If this is an accurate gauge, it is possible that the total decline in hours worked will be less than earlier feared as firms make use of the JobKeeper wage subsidy."
The ABS estimated that between March 14 and April 18:
- Tasmania lost 7.9 per cent of jobs;
- the West and North-West lost 7.6 per cent;
- Launceston and the North-East lost 7.8 per cent;
- Hobart lost 7.9 per cent; and
- the South-East lost 9.3 per cent.