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SA unemployment rate down but still tops nation

South Australia’s unemployment has dropped but remains the country’s highest as the national jobless rate falls to its lowest level since 1974.

Aug 18, 2022, updated Aug 18, 2022
Photo: David Mariuz/AAP

Photo: David Mariuz/AAP

The state’s unemployment rate fell from 4.3 per cent in June to 4 per cent in July, according to seasonally adjusted data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this morning.

But South Australia’s participation rate, which measures the percentage of people either in work or looking for it, also fell 0.5 points to 62.5 per cent.

The number of people employed in South Australia decreased marginally from 886,700 in June to 883,300 in July.

It comes as the national unemployment rate dropped from 3.5 per cent to 3.4 per cent – the lowest national rate since August 1974, according to the ABS.

“The fall in unemployment in July reflects an increasingly tight labour market, including high job vacancies and ongoing labour shortages, resulting in the lowest unemployment rate since August 1974,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

“In July, there were fewer unemployed people (474,000) than there were job vacancies (480,000 in May).”

The 4 per cent jobless rate in South Australia is the lowest since December 2021, when a 3.9 per cent unemployment rate was recorded just before the state’s first wave of COVID-19 hit.

Despite this month’s fall, South Australia now holds the standalone highest rate of unemployment in the nation after sharing the title with Tasmania last month.

Tasmania’s jobless rate recorded the biggest fall in July, decreasing 0.6 points to 3.7 per cent.

Queensland holds the second-highest unemployment rate at 3.8 per cent, above the Northern Territory (3.5 per cent), ACT and NSW (3.3 per cent), Western Australia (3.2 per cent) and Victoria (3.1 per cent).

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South Australia’s overall unemployment rate has been the highest or equal highest in Australia every month this year.

It also now holds the highest rate of underemployment in Australia at 6.8 per cent, above Queensland (6.6 per cent) and Tasmania (6.3 per cent).

The national underemployment average sits at 6 per cent. Tasmania held the highest underemployment rate last month at 7.7 per cent but that dropped 1.4 points in July.

South Australia’s underemployment rate only decreased 0.1 points from last month.

The state’s employment to population ratio has also dropped 0.3 points to 60 per cent – the second-lowest in the nation behind Tasmania.

The July results were in line with expectations, with most predicting jobless and participation rates to remain steady or to dip slightly.

This includes the Reserve Bank of Australia, which anticipated a fall in the unemployment rate in light of strong demand for labour and high numbers of open jobs.

-With AAP

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