Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today shows South Australia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for September was 4.3 per cent – up from 3.9 per cent in August.

The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.5 per cent.

The state’s underemployment rate, which measures part-time workers who want more hours and full-time workers who did not work full-time hours, marginally increased by 0.2 points to 6.8 per cent.

The number of employed people in South Australia fell 1 per cent from 893,500 to 884,800 – the largest percentage fall in the country.

South Australia’s participation rate, which measures the percentage of people either in work or looking for it, dropped to 62.7 per cent – down from 63.1 per cent in August.

The national participation rate remained unchanged at 66.6 per cent.

South Australia’s 4.3 per cent unemployment rate is now joint-highest in the nation. Tasmania, which previously had the standalone highest-rate at 5 per cent, recorded a 0.7-point drop in unemployment for September.

The Northern Territory’s unemployment rate also improved from 4.5 per cent in August to 4 per cent in September.

South Australia’s average jobless rate this year is 4.5 per cent, reaching a high of 5 per cent in February and a low of 3.9 per cent in August.

Nationally, about 900 jobs were added for the month compared to 33,500 in August.

“With employment increasing slightly, by around 1000 people, and the number of unemployed increasing by 9000, the unemployment rate rose by less than 0.1 percentage point but remained at 3.5 per cent in rounded terms,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

The ACT holds the lowest unemployment rate in the nation (3.1 per cent), followed by New South Wales (3.3 per cent) Western Australia (3.4 per cent) and Victoria (3.5 per cent).

– With AAP