South Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 6.8 per cent in December, the highest in Australia, to 6.4 per cent in January, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Western Australia recorded the worst rate, with 6.5 per cent. Queensland is only marginally better than South Australia, on 6.3 per cent.

However, the more stable trend rate for South Australia remains the highest of all the states and territories – 6.7 per cent, unchanged from December.

The fall in the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was the second largest in Australia, behind Tasmania.

Nationally, the jobless rate rate fell to 5.7 per cent in January, beating expectations that it would stay at 5.8 per cent.

The total number of people with jobs rose by 13,500 in the month, with the market forecasting a rise of 15,000.

Full-time employment fell by 44,800 jobs, while the number of part-time jobs was up by 58,300.

The participation rate, which refers to the number of people either employed or actively looking for work, was down at 64.6 per cent in January from 64.7 in December.

– with AAP

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