Testing Economic Time for NSW: Treasurer

New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet addresses the media during a press conference to update on COVID-19, at NSW Parliament House on March 17, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

NSW’s unemployment rate is forecast to reach 7.75 percent, with 275,000 people losing their jobs as the state grapples with the financial fallout of drought, bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Treasurer Dominic Perrottet delivered a sobering economic update in parliament on Tuesday, the day he was due to have handed down the NSW budget.