The State Government has labelled today’s increase in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August to 7.3 per cent (6.8 per cent trend) as disappointing news for jobs seekers in South Australia.
“The State Government understands the frustration of people looking for work and is committed to further increasing the number of jobs our economy is creating,” said Treasurer Rob Lucas.
“Our policies to reduce payroll tax, the Emergency Services Levy and other business costs demonstrates the State Government’s commitment to growing the South Australian economy, which is transitioning from a manufacturing base.
“The job opportunities from the $90 billion defence ship building program, the opportunities in the space and cyber, creative industries and innovation precinct at Lot Fourteen – as well as a significant $11.9 billion infrastructure pipeline – will also assist job seekers in South Australia.
“Whilst the number of jobs in South Australia grew during August, the increase was not fast enough to match the growing number of people looking for work.
“Put simply, what happened last month was that while an extra 5,300 people joined the workforce looking for jobs, 1400 of those found employment, meaning 3,900 were without work.
“In fact, the change in Government has seen a steady increase in the number of South Australians who want to work, which has driven the participation rate to near record levels in August.
“Since the election of the Marshall Liberal Government in March 2018 nearly 15,000 more South Australians are in work, of which nearly 10,000 are employed full-time.”
About 1,000 jobs have been created each month under the Marshall Government, which is nearly double the jobs growth rate under the former Labor government.
The August ABS figures show that a record 855,400 South Australians were employed, of which 552,900 were in full-time employment with 67,000 unemployed.
