South Australia Beats Rising Unemployment Trend

South Australia’s headline unemployment rate has dropped by 0.4 percentage points to 5.3 percent, defying a national rise in the last month. There were 756,300 South Australians employed in February – 12,200 more jobs than the same time last year. Participation in the State’s labour market remained very healthy at 62.7 per cent.

South Australia’s labour market continued to soften in February following fourteen months of consecutive growth.

However Employment Minister, Paul Caica says forward indicators generally suggest a positive outlook for the State Labour Market.

“Trends in leading indicators of labour market activity suggest employment growth is likely to be solid over the coming months,” Minister Caica said.

“The level of skilled vacancies in South Australia, recorded by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, rose by 1.4 per cent in February – better than the national average – to be 16.2 per cent higher than the level recorded a year ago. That compares with the national rise of 6.1 per cent for the year.

“Key economic indicators also suggest a slight improvement in economic activity in South Australia with retail turnover, housing approvals and new motor vehicle sales all rising over the month.