South Australia’s unemployment rate has jumped to 7.1 per cent, up from 6.1 per cent in June.

It’s the biggest jump among the State’s and is the highest rate among the mainland states.

It’s the highest seasonally adjusted rate since February 2002.

The national unemployment figure was steady at 5.7 per cent in July.

The total number of people with jobs fell 10,200 to 11.653 million in the month, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

Full-time employment fell 6,700 to 8.134 million in July and part-time employment was down 3,500 to 3.519 million.

The July participation rate was 65.1 per cent, down from 65.3 per cent in June.

The participation rate is the proportion of the population that have a job, are looking for work or ready to start work.

The SA figure may again be a “rogue” number, similar to a sudden jump recorded in June 2012 when the rate jumped from 5.3 per cent to 6.5 and then reverted to 5.3 the following month before tracking up again.

The less volatile figure – the trend rate – shows a steadier increase in unemployment, rising from 6.1 two months ago to 6.3 and now 6.4 per cent.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATES STATE BY STATE:

* NSW – 5.6% in July, up from 5.4% in June

* Vic – 5.7% in July, down from 5.8%

* Qld – 5.9% in July, down from 6.3%

* SA – 7.1% in July, up from 6.1%

* WA – 4.6% in July, flat

* Tas – 8.2% in July, down from 9.0%