UNEMPLOYMENT rates in Adelaide’s north rose by 0.2 per cent in August, slightly less than the 0.4 per cent increase seen across South Australia collectively.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed its Detailed Labour Force data on Thursday, with the northern Adelaide region – which includes Gawler, Elizabeth and nearby towns in the Adelaide Plains – registering an unemployment rate of 7.9 per cent, up from 7.7 per cent in July.
There are now 17,700 without a job in the area, a spike of 600 people in one month.
Of those currently unemployed, 9600 are male and 8100 are female, with unemployment rates for both sexes also rising by 0.2 per cent.
Despite the spike, 1000 people found a job in July, with the total employment number in the region jumping from 223,000 to 224,000.
Last week, nation and statewide data revealed SA had the highest unemployment rate in the country at 7.3 per cent, two percentage points above the nationwide average.
During question time in state parliament last week, premier Steven Marshall was grilled by the opposition Labor Party about the state’s jobless figures.
He argued the amount of people finding jobs masked the rise in the unemployment rate.
“You may be interested to know – not everybody is interested in good news, but you will be interested to know—that there are new statistics out today which look at job vacancies and compare our jurisdiction with the rest of the country,” he said.
“What does it show?
“Does it show what the naysayers have been putting out there?
“Absolutely not.
"It shows exactly the opposite, and that is that we are growing the economy and, importantly, we are growing jobs in South Australia.
“Let's have a look at what the federal department of employment, skills, small business and family business have put out today, looking at job vacancies in South Australia.
“They were up 0.6 of a per cent in August, three per cent higher than a year ago – the strongest annual growth of any mainland state in the country.”
Also last week, The Bunyip reported the St Vincent de Paul Gawler conference had seen a 34 per cent uptake in its services across June and July, as more people are looking for work.
