August 24, 2017
Youth unemployment in the Wide Bay region rose another 0.1 percentage points in July to reach 23.6 per cent.
This is the second highest regional rate in Queensland; the highest is the Queensland Outback which rose 1.2 ppts to a massive 57.4 per cent.
In comparison, Toowoomba’s youth unemployment rate for July dropped 0.6 ppt to 9.8 per cent; Ipswich rose 0.4 ppt to 13.1 per cent; and the Sunshine Coast rose 0.6 ppt to 10.8 per cent.
Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the unemployment figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, showed many regions reporting improvements in their jobless rates.
He said the ABS’s 12-month average unemployment rates for July showed general unemployment rates steady or lower than June in eight of the 14 regions outside Brisbane; and a drop in unemployment rates in seven regions outside Brisbane over the past 12 months.
The general unemployment rate for Wide Bay in July was steady at 8.7 per cent, but down 0.4 ppt on July 2016.
Toowoomba was down 0.2 ppt on June to 5.5 per cent; Sunshine Coast was steady at 5.0 per cent; and Ipswich was up 0.4 ppt to 8.0 per cent.
