Asia-Pacific shares rise in ‘fragile’ market environment, oil jumps more than 2%
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher Monday as investors reacted to last week’s U.S. jobs report that trounced expectations and fueled hopes for a faster economic recovery. Australian shares were in the green. The benchmark ASX 200 climbed 1.69% as all sectors traded higher, with the heavily-weighted financials subindex adding 1.39%. Major banking and mining stocks rose: […]
Frydenberg considering aviation support once JobKeeper ends
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg insists the government is looking at other measures to support a range of industries, including the aviation sector, once the JobKeeper program ends. The JobKeeper wage subsidy is due to finish at the end of March. Australia’s flagship airline Qantas, which has drawn hundreds of millions of dollars of JobKeeper support, reported […]
JobSeeker dole raised by $50 per fortnight
Unemployed workers will receive a permanent $50 a fortnight increase to the JobSeeker payment once the coronavirus supplement is scrapped. The new rate will be the equivalent of an extra $3.57 a day. The increase lifts JobSeeker to 41.2 per cent of the national minimum wage and will cost $9 billion over four years. Prime […]
ANZ to close 19 branches around Australia as customers move online
ANZ bank is closing 19 branches across Australia as customers overwhelmingly flock to the bank’s online portals instead of banking face-to-face. Some branches across NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania will close in 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic speeds up consumer confidence in online banking. Some of the branches slated to close include Ashfield […]