South Australia’s unemployment rate climbs in March

South Australia’s unemployment rate crept up 0.2 of a per cent in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed.

South Australia’s unemployment rate has crept up 0.2 of a per cent to 5.9 per cent.

The latest labour force figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, showed SA’s unemployment rate rose from 5.7 per cent in February to 5.9 per cent in March, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

SA Minister for Industry and Skills David Pison. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz

South Australia’s unemployment rate is well above the national average of 5 per cent but is the third best in the country behind New South Wales (4.3 per cent) and Victoria (4.6 per cent).

Western Australia (6 per cent), Queensland (6.1 per cent) and Tasmania (6.7 per cent) all had higher unemployment than SA

Seasonally adjusted figures are not available for the NT and ACT.

The State Government and Opposition both seized on the figures to present different arguments about the state's economy.

Skills Minister David Pisoni said more South Australians were looking for and finding work.

“Although the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in March rose slightly to 5.9 per cent, there are almost 15,000 more South Australians in employment, of which three-quarters are working full-time, compared to the same period last year,” he said.

“This was driven in a large part by a dramatic jump in the seasonally adjusted participation rate by almost 1 percentage point, which shows that the increase in business confidence is now translating to the broader community as more South Australians optimistically head back to the job market.

“The number of employed persons increased by 8500 in seasonally adjusted terms from February to March. Over the year to March, full-time jobs in seasonally adjusted terms grew by almost 11,000. Whichever number is used, this a significant expansion of opportunity for South Australians.”

Opposition treasury spokesman Stephen Mullighan seized on underemployment, which rose from 8.4 per cent to 8.8 per cent and youth unemployment, which has spiked over the past year.

“The outlook for jobs in South Australia is concerning given recent announcements by Big W and Radio Rentals and an ongoing slump in building and construction,” he said.

“Steven Marshall needs to take positive action to arrest the economic slide we are experiencing in South Australia under his leadership.”