Unemployment rate drops to lowest level in at least 13 years

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Almost 1000 extra workers have found jobs in the Murray Bridge district over the past year, according to the latest Jobs and Skills Australia estimates.

The district’s unemployment rate is at its lowest level in years: just four per cent at the end of 2023, and 3.1% in the Coorong.

About 447 people were left looking for work in the last quarter of last year – fewer than half as many as there were at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All of that is great for workers.

But for employers, it has made things difficult.

One local manager said she had advertised a job for a gardener and handyman a couple of months ago, but had been unable to find anyone who wanted to do it.

One candidate, through an employment service provider, “told me on the phone directly he didn’t want the job”.

Another two attended interviews, but vanished after being asked to undertake a police check; and a fourth candidate sent in a resume, but never returned any calls, texts or emails.

“I was willing to give people a job that wouldn’t have normally had an opportunity,” the manager said.

“(I) could not get anyone.

“We had to go to a subcontractor arrangement because I couldn’t find a single person willing to work.”

In response to a social media call-out by Murray Bridge News, one local suggested employment agencies needed to do more to get the remaining job seekers into work.

But another, Kerri Waldhuter, suggested people’s career paths played a role, too.

“An interesting conversation I’ve been having lately with a lot of women is that so many of us are driving to Adelaide for work, as that’s where the career opportunities are,” she said.

“(We’re) trying to juggle career progression while wanting to stay in Murray Bridge for all the benefits the town offers our families, such as the atmosphere of country sport, affordable housing and education, open spaces and learning the values that come with living within a tight-knit community.”

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