Slowest growth in nation: State’s jobless rate flat at 4.3pc

Tasmania’s unemployment rate has remained unchanged at 4.3 per cent while the island’s population growth continues to be the slowest in the nation, new data has shown.

Tasmania’s unemployment rate has remained unchanged at 4.3 per cent while the island’s population growth continues to be the slowest in the nation, new data has shown.

The state’s jobless rate stayed the same in trend terms last month compared to July, according to labour force figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday.

Only Victoria has higher unemployment at 4.5 per cent. The national average remained stable at 4.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.

Underemployment fell to 6.8 per cent in Tasmania but the participation rate also decreased by 0.1 per cent to 60.8 per cent, which is the lowest in the country.

Treasurer Michael Ferguson said businesses were facing “significant national economic headwinds” but the ABS figures showed the local economy was demonstrating “resilience in the face of high inflation and high interest rates which the Albanese government has failed to address”.

Treasurer, Michael Ferguson. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

“[The] unemployment rate has been 4.3 per cent or lower for nearly three years and is still incredibly low from a historical point of view and 3.6 per cent lower than the 7.9 per cent it reached under the previous Labor-Green government,” he said.

“There are 46,000 more Tasmanians employed today than there were when we came to government in March 2014. Whilst this has fallen recently, it is an extraordinary achievement for the state.”

The state government last week handed down a budget that forecast a deficit of $792m this financial year, with further shortfalls totalling $885m over the next three years. Meanwhile, net debt is predicted to rise to $8.5bn in 2027-28.

The Liberals say there is a “pathway to surplus” but this isn’t likely to be realised until 2028-29 at the earliest.

There were 281,100 people employed in the state in August, which was 0.2 per cent less than in July.

Labor treasury spokesman Josh Willie said the blame for these numbers lay at the feet of the Rockliff government.

“When the embattled Treasurer attempts to blame his woes on the national economy, he should keep in mind that Tasmania is the only jurisdiction to record a decline in employment this month,” Mr Willie said.

The state’s population grew by 0.4 per cent in the year to March 31, the ABS said, increasing by 2200 people to a total of about 575,700 people. It’s the most sluggish growth rate in the country, behind the Northern Territory at 0.8 per cent.

Tasmania also recorded its eighth consecutive quarter of negative interstate migration, with a net loss of 2860 people to the mainland.

“Plane-loads of working-age Tasmanians are fleeing our shores – a plane-load every four days – in search of better opportunities on the mainland,” Mr Willie said.

Originally published as Slowest growth in nation: State’s jobless rate flat at 4.3pc