'Some businesses won't survive' but economic recovery on track, Treasurer says

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has admitted some businesses will not be saved when the JobKeeper program ends next year, but did say the economy remains on track to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Frydenberg was speaking on Today after government figures showed that two million employees and 450,000 businesses left the JobKeeper program in October.

"There will some businesses that don't make it and some jobs that cannot be saved. But it's our analysis the unemployment rate will come down next year and the year ahead even after JobKeeper comes off at the end of March," he said.

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But Mr Frydenberg said the economy is continuing to recover from the pandemic hit.

"The economic recovery is gaining momentum and these JobKeeper numbers are very encouraging," he said.

"We saw 178,000 jobs being created last month. We have seen consumer confidence up across the country and 11 in the last 12 weeks and we have seen the effective unemployment rate, which is our focus, come down from 9.3 per cent down to 7.4 per cent.

"While there is still a long road ahead, these are promising signs that our economic recovery is well under way."

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The JobKeeper supplement fell from $1500 to $1200 a fortnight at the end of September and is scheduled to decrease to $1000 from January to March, when the scheme is due to finish.

Mr Frydenberg also said the current trade dispute with China, which has announced new crippling tariffs on Australian wine exports, was hurting both countries.

"This is a challenging time with Australia's largest trading partner in China. But it is a mutually beneficial relationship. China benefits greatly from Australia's iron ore which underpins its economic growth.

"So we will obviously work through these issues."