South Australia’s unemployment rate increased in May, in contrast to the national trend.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today showed the state’s unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) increased from 7.2 per cent in April.
South Australia now has the worst jobless rate in the country, with Tasmania’s rate dropping from 7.3 per cent to 7.0 per cent.
It was South Australia’s highest unemployment rate since July 2001.
Every other state experienced a fall in unemployment May.
In trend terms the news was no better, with SA’s jobless rate increasing from 7.1 to 7.2. On trend terms, SA also has the worst rate of any state.
Employment Minister Gail Gago said she was disappointed in the unemployment rate, but there were some “positive signs”.
“It’s important to remember the figures are volatile and can fluctuate from month-to-month,” she said.
“South Australia’s economic basis has been more reliant on traditional manufacturing industries which have contracted dramatically in recent years. This has resulted in a more subdued labour market performance.
“However, there are some encouraging signs. Since January the participation rate has increased from 61.7% to 62.2%, and we were the only state to record in increase in participation in May.
“This means there are more people working and actively looking for work, which could indicate increased confidence in the jobs market.”
The national unemployment rate bettered economists’ expectations by falling to 6.0 per cent in May, from a downwardly revised 6.1 per cent in April.
The total number of people with jobs rose 42,000 to 11.76 million in May, the ABS said.
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This was markedly better than expectations for a rise of 10,000.
The participation rate, which refers to the number of people that have a job, are looking for work or are ready to start work, was steady at 64.7 per cent.
– with AAP
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