Victoria has had the highest unemployment in the country for almost 18 consecutive months in a sign of what economists say is a malaise that has lingered since the COVID era and shown up as a business concern during this week’s earnings season.

Almost four years after the last pandemic lockdowns were lifted, economists say the damage they caused was still being felt by businesses and households in Victoria, where the jobless rate lifted by 0.1 percentage point to 4.6 per cent in July, above the national average of 4.2 per cent.

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