Mr Howard said it cost about $50 a fortnight to catch three trains to Macquarie University from Liverpool,where he lives in shared accommodation. With hopes of becoming a maths teacher,he is studying a “pathways” program to gain entry to a science degree. He could not complete year 12 while looking for work and somewhere to live. He is looking for work in retail or food services in Liverpool.

National Skills Commission analysis shows the number of unemployed persons for every job vacancy peaked at 11.8 in April 2020. It has since fallen to 4.2 unemployed persons per vacancy,as of February. This is below the 4.5 unemployed persons per vacancy in February 2020.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said Australia had out performed all major advanced economies in the past 12 months.

“Jobs are returning and the number of unemployed persons for every job vacancy has since fallen below pre-lockdown levels to 4.2 unemployed persons per vacancy,” she said.

“Comparing Australia’s social security system to the OECD is completely misleading because many other countries run insurance-style schemes that employees have to pay into and that only provide higher payments for a matter of months.”

Federal Treasury said on Wednesday it expected between100,000 and 150,000 JobKeeper recipients would lose their jobs nationally after the scheme ends on Sunday. Greater Sydney accounts for about 22 per cent of employment in Australia so the Treasury estimates equate to between 22,000 and 33,000 job losses across the city when JobKeeper is withdrawn.