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Speaker 1: Unemployments at its highest level since twenty twenty, now sitting

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Speaker 1: at five point two percent. That's sixteen thousand jobs gone

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Speaker 1: in the last year. Retail's been hit hard, with full

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Speaker 1: time jobs down two percent last quarter. Carolyn Young is

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Speaker 1: Retailing z ED CEO with me this morning. Karen, Good morning, whatever.

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Speaker 1: How are you guys feeling about looking ahead? Is this

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Speaker 1: the worst it'll get? Do you think for retail? Or

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Speaker 1: more shedding to come?

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Speaker 2: Look, it's really hard to tell. We have an advice

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Speaker 2: service for our members and we're still every week the

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Speaker 2: top issues that are being discussed with through our advice

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Speaker 2: service restructures and closures, So you know, the pain is

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Speaker 2: still being felt and so could be more more to come.

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Speaker 2: I would think at this point.

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Speaker 1: Hard to keep morale up at the moment.

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Speaker 2: It is tough, Yeah, and I think you know, retailers

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Speaker 2: are trying to really focus on some of the good

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Speaker 2: work that's being done to keep morale up. But business

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Speaker 2: owners and certainly in those means, are really struggling around,

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Speaker 2: you know, how how to make sure that they survive

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Speaker 2: through this downturn to come out the other side.

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Speaker 1: What I mean, everyone's waiting on the reserve Bank to

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Speaker 1: just pull trigger and keep cutting, cut and cutting. You know,

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Speaker 1: we'd like it, we'd like them to prune like it's

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Speaker 1: coming into summer. But but what what do you is there?

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Speaker 1: You know, are people realistic, business owners, realistic about how

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Speaker 1: much the government can actually do in a situation like this, Well.

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Speaker 2: We really need greater consumer confidence. That's the key driver

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Speaker 2: for the most discernible retail because if you take out

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Speaker 2: core essential services where you know people are going to

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Speaker 2: have to go to the supermarket, they need electricity, detail

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Speaker 2: in taile, communications and fuel. If they don't, if consumers

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Speaker 2: don't have anything left in their pocket, then they're not

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Speaker 2: going to be out buying anything else. If they're not

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Speaker 2: confident in their job security, they're not going to be

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Speaker 2: thinking about buying other things. We really have to make

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Speaker 2: sure that, you know, people are feeling secure in those

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Speaker 2: spaces to their confidence arise for them to be able

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Speaker 2: to spend more money in the wider sector. And part

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Speaker 2: of that will be around you know, interest rates and

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Speaker 2: mortgage affordability and rent affordability and those everyday expenses.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, appreciate that, Karen, Thank you, Carol and young who's

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Speaker 1: with retailing zed for more.

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Speaker 2: From early edition with Ryan Bridge.

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Speaker 1: Listen live to news talks that be from five am weekdays,

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