South Australia’s October 2021 jobless rate rises slightly

South Australia’s jobless rate has risen slightly again – but we’re still not the worst-placed when it comes to employment.

South Australia’s jobless rate has risen slightly again, with latest figures showing it now sits at 5.3 per cent.

But Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Thursday show SA is no longer worst-placed when it comes to jobs. That mantle now belongs to the ACT with an unemployment rate of 6.6 per cent.

It comes after the state last month recorded the worst unemployment figure in the nation and was the only state with a jobless rate above 5 per cent.

The unemployment rate for September, released in October, was 5.1 per cent, up from 5 per cent the previous month.

Latest figures show Western Australia and the Northern Territory are now boasting the equal lowest rates, while the national average is 5.2 per cent, up from 4.6 per cent in September.

August saw SA’s unemployment rate plunge to well below 5 per cent, marking its lowest point in more than 10 years.

But the Australian Bureau of Statistics is taking the new national rate of 5.2 per cent as a sign of confidence people were prepared to go back to work as lockdowns ended across the country.

The ABS estimates that more than 40,000 jobs were lost during the same period, but the ABS says the increase in unemployment actually showed that people were “preparing to get back to work”.

“(People were) increasingly available and actively looking for work – particularly in NSW, Victoria and the ACT,” Bjorn Jarvis from the ABS said.

“This follows what we have seen towards the end of other major lockdowns, including the one in Victoria late last year.

“It may seem counterintuitive for unemployment to rise as conditions are about to improve. However, this shows how unusual lockdowns are, compared with other economic shocks, in how they limit being able to work and look for work.”