SA jobless rate no longer nation’s highest
South Australia’s unemployment rate has dropped marginally to 4 per cent to be second highest behind Tasmania, while the national jobless rate has fallen to 3.4 per cent.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today shows South Australia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for October was four per cent – down from 4.1 per cent in September.
The national unemployment rate also dropped to 3.4 per cent in October from 3.5 per cent the month prior.
The ABS last month initially reported SA’s September unemployment rate at 4.3 per cent – the joint-highest in the nation – but revised that down to 4.1 per cent in its data release today.
The drop in unemployment to 4 per cent means SA no longer has the highest rate in the nation, with Tasmania (4.2 per cent) now holding the title.
SA’s participation rate, which measures the percentage of people either in work or looking for it, increased 0.1 points to 63.3 per cent.
It remains well below the national participation rate of 66.5 per cent, which is now only 0.2 points below a record high of 66.7 per cent.
SA’s underemployment rate, which measures part-time workers who want more hours and full-time workers who did not work full-time hours, remained steady at 6.6.
The national underemployment was also unchanged at 6 per cent.
SA added 10,800 jobs in October, with the number of employed people growing from 884,800 to 895,600.
Treasurer Stephen Mullighan touted today’s figures as “another encouraging result with a record number of South Australians in work”.
“Since the state election almost 10,000 more people have a job, and three quarters of those are employed full-time,” Mullighan said in a statement.
“We know that there are harder times ahead with inflation rising and interest rates at their highest point since 2013.
“That’s why we are investing in infrastructure, businesses and events to provide jobs for today and for the future.”
Nationally, 32,000 jobs were added to the Australian economy.
The ACT has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 3.1 per cent, followed by New South Wales (3.2 per cent), Queensland (3.4 per cent), Victoria and Western Australia (3.5 per cent), Northern Territory and SA (4 per cent) and Tasmania (4.2 per cent).
