Australia's PM: Over 838,000 businesses have registered for JobKeeper program

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said that more than 838,000 businesses have registered their interest in the government's JobKeeper wage subsidy program, which aims to keep businesses going through the coronavirus crisis. 

Under the JobKeeper program, businesses affected by COVID-19 can receive $1,500 per employee, per fortnight and need to pass the money received on to their staff. 

Australia is set to report the employment data for the month of March at 01:30 GMT on Thursday. The data is expected to show the jobless rate surged to 5.5% from February's 5.1% and the economy shed 40K jobs as opposed to 26.7K additions in February.