Hon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister of Employment): The latest household labour force survey had the unemployment rate at 4 percent and, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, this was one of the lowest rates in nearly a decade. This puts our country, New Zealand, in a strong position, leading into what we now face as a rapidly evolving situation due to COVID-19. As the Minister of Finance said yesterday, advice that we have had is that the effect of COVID-19 in terms of job losses will be greater than the global financial crisis, when unemployment reached 6.7 percent. What we know is that this will have a significant impact on unemployment, which is why yesterday the Minister of Finance announced the significant economic stimulus package to help cushion the blow. 