Good resume writers keep an eagle eye on the economy. A professional resume writer can tell where the jobs are and which trades and professions are on the rise and which are waning. Here is my snapshot on why the economy won’t ‘snapback’ quickly.

The role of the economy is to provide 13 million Australians with jobs. When it falters, it’s called a recession.

It means hundreds of thousands – maybe millions – of families will suffer hardship, anxiety and fear about the future. Because Australia’s economy was weak before the Coronavirus hit, it will take longer to recover.

Three weeks ago, the ABS labour force figures showed that in just the four weeks to mid-April, the number of Australians with jobs fell by a staggering 600,000.

The total number of hours worked during the month fell by more than 9 per cent. Also unprecedented. The rate of under-employment (mainly part-timers wishing to work more hours), leapt by almost 5 points to 13.7 per cent.

People get fixated by GDP but its jobs that’s the real issue. GDP is falling because consumer spending fell by 1.1 per cent. Some of this fall was because the shops closed but much was deliberate, as households tightened their belts in anticipation of tough times to come.

The private sector is contracting whereas the public sector (via federal and state budgets) is expanding to fill the vacuum. The extent to which governments pump money in to the economy and allow their budget deficits to rise, has a big influence on how severe the recession is, how high unemployment goes and how long it takes to get people back to work.

Here’s the tricky bit. Treasurer Frydenberg claimed recently that the economy entered the crisis “from a position of strength”. This is rubbish. Consumer spending was already low and unemployment and under employment were on the rise.

Housing construction was in the pits and business investment was weak. Those problems have not gone away, and the shock of COVID-19 has exacerbated them.

The recovery is relying on the federal and state budgets to prop up the economy for many quarters to come.