Graph 8  Cumulative Change in Hours Worked Contributions since December 2019 %  United States  Canada  Australia  %  0  0  -10  -10  -20  -20  %  Japan  Italy  United Kingdom  %  0  0  -10  -10  -20  -20  -30  M J S D M J 2020 2021 Total hours worked  M J S D M J 2020 2021  M J S D M J 2020 2021  Employment  Average hours worked  -30  Sources: CEIC Data; Office for National Statistics; RBA; Refinitiv  The income provided by JobKeeper was an important part of the Australian fiscal policy response more generally.
On the other hand, the global expansion of demand is largely based in the emerging economies, many of which are running at full capacity and facing the risk of overheating. This fact makes the situation somewhat precarious, and a more balanced growth pattern in the world economy would clearly be better for stability.