Think Murray Bridge is a hotbed of unemployment? Think again
The local unemployment rate has fallen to just five per cent, its lowest level in more than 10 years.
Unemployment in Murray Bridge has fallen to just five per cent, according to the latest federal government figures.
That’s the lowest level recorded locally in more than 10 years.
The unemployment rate was over 10% just two years ago, at the height of the first wave of COVID-19.
However, we can take the good result with a grain of salt.
The number of people able to work in Murray Bridge – a figure which excludes children, retirees, students, full-time carers and so on – has actually shrunk for four straight years.
The unemployment rate wouldn’t be quite so low if our workforce had grown at the same rate as our population.
We’ve experienced a few workforce changes over the past few years, of course, including a pandemic which resulted in the temporary closure of Australia’s borders to migrant workers.
Still, just 508 people were estimated to be looking for work in Murray Bridge in the third quarter of 2022, according to Jobs and Skills Australia, fewer than at any point since at least 2010.
The unemployment rate in the Coorong, meanwhile, also fell to an historic low in the September quarter: 3.9%.
About 103 people were looking for work there.
The unemployment rate for the whole of South Australia, by Jobs and Skills Australia’s measure, was 4.5%.
- More information: www.jobsandskills.gov.au.
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