Posted on: 14 July 2022
South Australia continues to hold the undesirable title of having the worst unemployment rate in the country at 4.3 per cent.
The damning new figures show SA’s underemployment rate is the worst of all the mainland states, sitting at 6.9 per cent, as is the state’s participation rate at 63 per cent.
This disappointing news follows the troubling revelation that business confidence in South Australia dropped a staggering 17 points last month – the biggest fall of all the states.
Concerningly, the results of NAB’s Monthly Business Survey also show the trend line shifting down sharply from +16 to +3 in June 2022 – the largest drop in the nation.
Shadow Treasurer Matt Cowdrey said Labor must reveal what their plan is to grow our economy and improve business confidence.
“This is a disappointing result and a troubling sign for the Malinauskas Labor Government,” Mr Cowdrey said.
“South Australia has the highest unemployment rate in the country and business confidence is in freefall, what is Labor’s vision to turn this around?
“It’s hardly surprising the business community is losing confidence under Labor, with significant time and cost blowouts to major projects and the disastrous way they handled the Return to Work legislation.
“Peter Malinauskas’ own anti-jobs budget showed there would be fewer opportunities for South Australians, predicting the jobs growth rate would collapse – down from 3.25 per cent to a tiny 1 per cent.
“What’s incredibly troubling is the Treasurer won’t admit there’s a problem here. Instead, he’s grandstanding in Parliament, saying there’s been a remarkable turnaround in business confidence, when in fact it’s fallen off a cliff since Labor took office.
“The Treasurer needs to take a good hard look at the numbers and start seeing the economic reality. The South Australian public needs to know what Labor’s plan is for our economy moving forward.”