SA jobless rate hits 6.3 per cent in February, back to highest in the nation

SOUTH Australia’s jobless rate has bounced back to the highest in the nation and is likely to keep rising as the full impact of Holden’s closure is felt, a leading expert says.

SOUTH Australia’s jobless rate has bounced back to the highest in the nation and is likely to keep rising as the full impact of Holden’s closure is felt, a leading expert says.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for February, the final full month of Labor’s 16 years in power, show SA’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.3 per cent.

The complex results showed an increase in the number of employed South Australians, now a record 837,700, but that growth being outpaced by new jobseekers.

New Premier Steven Marshall. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Australian Industrial Transformation Institute director John Spoehr told The Advertiser it appeared the October closure of Holden’s Elizabeth factory was only now beginning to be reflected in official figures, as many paid-out workers had taken time off before seeking new employment.

The figures also reveal higher unemployment among men than women as old industries like manufacturing struggle but health and services grow.

Professor Spoehr said this could produce major changes for many SA households, as more women moved to become breadwinners and men struggled for secure jobs.

“This is not a surprising result and we should prepare ourselves for a steadily rising unemployment rate, particularly if we’re not able to sustain employment in job-rich (infrastructure and construction) projects as we have in the past,” he said.

“It will continue to be a struggle until big shipbuilding projects come along, in the early 2020s.

“We’ve got this challenging few years that represent a hole that has to be plugged.”

Prof Spoehr said new public infrastructure investment must be considered to stimulate short-term jobs for workers seeking to transition out of the car industry.

The national unemployment rate is 5.6 per cent, compared with SA’s 6.3 per cent.

The news came on the morning that Premier Steven Marshall’s new Cabinet was preparing to be sworn in, as it promises tax cuts to drive new job creation.

Other figures released on Thursday showed SA lost 5800 people to other states in the 12 months ending September, and had the slowest population growth in the nation.

Treasurer Rob Lucas is expected to deliver a delayed Budget in September, with administrative arrangements and legislation aimed at cutting taxes to come before then.

Master Builders Association SA chief executive Ian Markos said the Government must reduce the size of the public sector to fund programs that stimulated private business.

“The business community has been calling for public sector reform for years. It’s time government gets out of the way and lets the private sector do what it does best,” he said.

SA Centre for Economic Studies executive director Michael O’Neil has previously warned recent jobs growth may have been an unsustainable bubble, propped up by taxpayer-funded subsidies that have not fixed underlying structural problems.