{"id":220837,"date":"2018-10-23T19:09:16","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T09:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=220837"},"modified":"2020-07-27T12:10:23","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T02:10:23","slug":"regional-unemployment-rises-0-8pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/10\/23\/regional-unemployment-rises-0-8pc\/","title":{"rendered":"Regional Unemployment Rises 0.8pc"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The latest Small Area Labour Markets data to June 2018 shows regional unemployment has risen
from 8.4 per cent to 9.2 per cent over the past 12 months<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

October 23, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

The South Burnett’s unemployment rate has risen from 8.4 per cent to 9.2 per cent over the past year, according to the Federal Government.<\/p>\n

The results are contained in the latest quarterly release of Small Area Labour Markets (SALM) data compiled by the Department of Jobs and Small Business.<\/p>\n

The SALM data shows that between June 2017 and June this year, regional unemployment rose from 1158 to 1289 jobseekers, an increase of 131.<\/p>\n

The drop in employment comes against the background of a fall in the region’s population over the past four years.<\/p>\n

During this period, the region’s population declined from 32,699 (2013) to 32,575 (2017), a drop of 124 residents.<\/p>\n

The latest figures also show a seven-year trend towards a higher average regional unemployment rate, from slightly above 7\u00a0 per cent in 2011 to more than 9 per cent in 2018.<\/p>\n

However, the figures are not quite as bad as they look. <\/strong><\/p>\n

According to SALM, the South Burnett’s labour force in June 2011 was 13,613 people, while the labour force in June 2018 was 14,013 – an increase of just 400 people.<\/p>\n

The South Burnett is also performing better than most of its Wide Bay-Burnett brethren.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, Gympie’s unemployment increased by one percent from 7.9 to 8.9 per cent; Fraser Coast by 1.1 per cent (9.6 to 10.7) and Bundaberg by 0.9 per cent (8.7 to 9.6).<\/p>\n

The only two Wide Bay-Burnett regions to record a lower annual increase were the North Burnett, where unemployment rose by 0.6 per cent (4.7 to 5.3); and Cherbourg, where it rose by 0.4 per cent (11.6 to 12.0).<\/p>\n