South Australia’s unemployment rate jumps to 7.1 per cent

[Jessica Berry]

A 0.7 percentage point jump in South Australia’s jobless rate in April was the highest in the nation, ABS figures released today reveal.

 

The state’s unemployment rate is 7.1 per cent, up from 6.4 per cent in March. Only Tasmania has a higher rate in Australia at 7.3 per cent.

 

Business SA CEO Nigel McBride said he was disappointed by the results but he also noted that “we need to bear in mind the inherent volatility in monthly labour force data.”

 

“With South Australia’s unemployment rate still stubbornly high and the closure of auto manufacturing pending, it will be important that next week’s federal budget focus on economic infrastructure projects to create long term sustainable jobs,” he said.

 

The results are an early indicator of the pain likely to be felt from the closure of the car industry.

 

The male unemployment rate jumped from 6.2 per cent to 7.3 per cent. More than 60,000 males are now unemployed in the state.

 

John Spoehr, Associate Professor from the University of Adelaide, said the state faced two main problems — sluggish manufacturing and mining cutbacks.

 

Although the Federal Government has pledged to reinstate some of the funding it had originally cut from the Automotive Transformation Scheme (ATS), Prof Spoehr said all the money originally pledged would be needed for this difficult transition period.

 

“The rise in the male unemployment rate here in South Australia and the expectation that it will continue to rise underscores the need to look at the ATS,” he said.

 

“It makes sense to assist the component manufacturers to make that adjustment to really stem the job losses.”

 

Two weeks ago, Holden announced 270 jobs would be cut from its factory in Elizabeth.

 

Employment Minister Gail Gago said the unemployment figures were “disappointing”.

 

“While the latest figures are concerning, they show the importance of the State Government continuing to work together with business and industry to support jobs growth in a transitioning economy.”

 

South Australia’s headline — or seasonally adjusted — rate is above the trend rate of 6.8 per cent.

 

But the headline rate has now bounced at or above 7 per cent four times since March last year.

 

Liberal employment spokesman David Pisoni criticised the government’s approach to jobs earlier this week.

 

“To create jobs in South Australia, we need to lower taxes and reduce red tape to encourage business investment and economic growth,” he said.

 

“Unless we achieve this, South Australian businesses will continue to struggle.”

 

Ms Gago pointed out there were signs of recovery in other parts of the economy.

 

“Increases over the past year have been recorded for retail sales, investment, housing construction, sales of new motor vehicles and minerals and petroleum exploration expenditure,” she said.

 

Nationally, the unemployment rate is up to 6.2 per cent from 6.1 per cent in March.

[Meadows]

Hi Jessica

 

I would say the unemployment figure is a lot higher than that quoted. I have seen it first hand, that these figures only count people signing on with Centrelink- if you do not qualify to sign on with them - if for example your partner works full time, they do not allow you to sign on. I know this to be true of a qualified engineer who is a family member who has been unemployed for over a year and therefore is not one of those who are counted as unemployed. You know what they say," Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics".

[NicF]

Hi Jessica

 

I would say the unemployment figure is a lot higher than that quoted. I have seen it first hand, that these figures only count people signing on with Centrelink- if you do not qualify to sign on with them - if for example your partner works full time, they do not allow you to sign on. I know this to be true of a qualified engineer who is a family member who has been unemployed for over a year and therefore is not one of those who are counted as unemployed. You know what they say," Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics".

 

Actually unemployment figures in Australia are not calculated by the number of people signing on at centrelink. They are calculated by contacting a random sample of people and asking them if they are in work and if not if they are looking for work. This has problems of it's own in that people who have worked for at least one hour in the previous period (can't remember the length of the period though) are counted as being employed and anyone who is not actively looking for work is not counted as being unemployed.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Actually unemployment figures in Australia are not calculated by the number of people signing on at centrelink. They are calculated by contacting a random sample of people and asking them if they are in work and if not if they are looking for work. This has problems of it's own in that people who have worked for at least one hour in the previous period (can't remember the length of the period though) are counted as being employed and anyone who is not actively looking for work is not counted as being unemployed.

 

That may account for the unexpected drop the previous month?

[Lazy Cow]

That may account for the unexpected drop the previous month?

 

I think this may account for the published figures not matching people's experience and knowledge of the job market.

 

Mind you, you've got to be proud of the twisted mind that came up with this method of measuring unemployment.

 

LC

[Jessica Berry]

Agree, it is all smoke and mirrors! I have actually been one of the people that was randomly selected by the ABS to do the monthly survey over the phone. How on earth can doing 1 hour of work class anyone as 'employed'!

 

There are so many categories of 'unemployed' that the statistics do not take into account. Just from the people I encounter including family and friends and through work (working in the career guidance/HR/recruitment/training field I suppose I have more of an interest in these things than maybe the average person) there are a lot more people out of work. Friday alone, I met up with a friend for lunch and she was telling me her husbands workplace had finished 5 staff (in the manufacturing field) who were on perm contracts due to a downturn in work and her husband is really worried for his job. Later in the day, we were advised a company we deal with had informed 12 of their office staff they were being made redundant.

[Guest Guest14361]

Agree, it is all smoke and mirrors! I have actually been one of the people that was randomly selected by the ABS to do the monthly survey over the phone. How on earth can doing 1 hour of work class anyone as 'employed'!

 

There are so many categories of 'unemployed' that the statistics do not take into account. Just from the people I encounter including family and friends and through work (working in the career guidance/HR/recruitment/training field I suppose I have more of an interest in these things than maybe the average person) there are a lot more people out of work. Friday alone, I met up with a friend for lunch and she was telling me her husbands workplace had finished 5 staff (in the manufacturing field) who were on perm contracts due to a downturn in work and her husband is really worried for his job. Later in the day, we were advised a company we deal with had informed 12 of their office staff they were being made redundant.

 

this is happening everyday, yet I still hear of the SA government saying theirs heaps of vacancies, let's keep bringing in migrants......when most of them get hear they then ask where are the jobs. How many times have we seen this on this forum alone. It's unbelievable and wrong for this to be allowed....I have a friend in Sydney who has just been made redundant,used to live in Adelaide, typed into Skype his requirements....over 100 vacancies available in Sydney...... in Adelaide there was 1. This problem will only get worse when Holdens closes shop for good, another 250 left last week

[deryans]

this is happening everyday, yet I still hear of the SA government saying theirs heaps of vacancies, let's keep bringing in migrants......when most of them get hear they then ask where are the jobs. How many times have we seen this on this forum alone. It's unbelievable and wrong for this to be allowed....I have a friend in Sydney who has just been made redundant,used to live in Adelaide, typed into Skype his requirements....over 100 vacancies available in Sydney...... in Adelaide there was 1. This problem will only get worse when Holdens closes shop for good, another 250 left last week

 

SA government is inept, we all know this , from child protection through to planning through to education and on down to the local level, they are just not capable of doing a competent job.

 

But how are you going to get rid of a 200K+ a year sloth , that has been in a mates for mates job for the last 20 years, they see nothing wrong with adelaide thank you very much in their nice house in nice suburb, and they are unwilling, or unable to offer any new views or positions on solving a problem they have no interest in.

 

It's worse than I thought, the place is a joke.

[emmie]

SA government is inept, we all know this , from child protection through to planning through to education and on down to the local level, they are just not capable of doing a competent job.

 

But how are you going to get rid of a 200K+ a year sloth , that has been in a mates for mates job for the last 20 years, they see nothing wrong with adelaide thank you very much in their nice house in nice suburb, and they are unwilling, or unable to offer any new views or positions on solving a problem they have no interest in.

 

It's worse than I thought, the place is a joke.

 

Yet you're back in London, still miserable and obsessed with Adelaide!

[deryans]

still have investments there, so I'd rather not have the clowns who run the place remain.

 

Miserable ? don't know where you got that idea.

[Guest Guest14361]

Pollies are the same the world over, they just feather their own nests

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Yet you're back in London, still miserable and obsessed with Adelaide!

 

You reckon? Haven't you read all the positive posts? See if you can find one...It doesn't matter if it's a good news story or a bad news story...you will always only hear the negative side from some people. Only difference is that when it's a bad news story it's actually good news for the doom and gloom merchants.

[Guest Guest14361]

Tamara are you saying a high unemployment rate is good news then and is a positive thing.. What good news is there around at the moment, 270 about to lose their jobs at Holdens?? are you saying the bus driver vacancies will help....even your hubbies licence was no good.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

I don't think that you are reading things correctly. Unemployment is never a good thing but for individuals who thrive on Adelaide bad news stories it might be a good thing. It gives them something else to use to grind Adelaide, it's people and way of life into the dirt.

 

The bus drivers vacancies is part of another thread...not this one. It's part of a positive thread to try in some small way help someone secure employment. It was posted by Jessica in the hope that someone may find work. What was your response to this? Your response was to highlight the cost of the licence and the fact that a split shift was inconvenient to an employee. Every job has it's downsides but it's a job...right?

 

You are right my hubbies licence wasn't any use here. We moved across the world to another country where you can transfer car licences over but require heavy vehicle licence holders to do a test again. That's the way it is. You can moan about it. You can try fighting the system and bash your head at the reasoning behind it...you can bitch and moan, and put it on your list of things that make you miss the greener grass back home...OR, you accept it, move on, do the test and put the expense and inconvenience behind you. If this solution isn't for you then you may as well head to Sir Donald Bradman Drive and take a flight back home. My hubbie now has his Australian HR licence. My hubbie also wasn't allowed to follow his occupation. His training qualifications were not recognised here. Did he quit? Did he join a public forum and spew his negativity at every opportunity? No. He put himself through TAFE for a year, obtained the training qualification and moved forwards. What choice was there? We moved to give our children a future...a better life, so we sacrifice and knuckle down...and make it work.

 

Moving to a new land is a compromise in many respects. I am settled here and wouldn't move for the world. That doesn't mean that there weren't aspects of my former life that were better and ways of doing things that were simpler and more efficient. However,the pros of living here far outweigh the cons.

 

I went to a mayoral function once. A large city with thousands of employees and the mayor was presenting awards for outstanding contributions to public service. There's a short line form the speech that has stuck with me and I am going to share it. The mayor acknowledged that there was constant work required to improve services and efficiency and that council employees were the key in making things work....the line was "don't just submit problems...submit solutions".

 

On this public forum I would really like people to acknowledge the problems but not make them the focal point of everything. The focal point should always be the solution and how you can help.

Think about it.

[Guest Guest14361]

I don't think that you are reading things correctly. Unemployment is never a good thing but for individuals who thrive on Adelaide bad news stories it might be a good thing. It gives them something else to use to grind Adelaide, it's people and way of life into the dirt.

 

The bus drivers vacancies is part of another thread...not this one. It's part of a positive thread to try in some small way help someone secure employment. It was posted by Jessica in the hope that someone may find work. What was your response to this? Your response was to highlight the cost of the licence and the fact that a split shift was inconvenient to an employee. Every job has it's downsides but it's a job...right?

 

You are right my hubbies licence wasn't any use here. We moved across the world to another country where you can transfer car licences over but require heavy vehicle licence holders to do a test again. That's the way it is. You can moan about it. You can try fighting the system and bash your head at the reasoning behind it...you can bitch and moan, and put it on your list of things that make you miss the greener grass back home...OR, you accept it, move on, do the test and put the expense and inconvenience behind you. If this solution isn't for you then you may as well head to Sir Donald Bradman Drive and take a flight back home. My hubbie now has his Australian HR licence. My hubbie also wasn't allowed to follow his occupation. His training qualifications were not recognised here. Did he quit? Did he join a public forum and spew his negativity at every opportunity? No. He put himself through TAFE for a year, obtained the training qualification and moved forwards. What choice was there? We moved to give our children a future...a better life, so we sacrifice and knuckle down...and make it work.

 

Moving to a new land is a compromise in many respects. I am settled here and wouldn't move for the world. That doesn't mean that there weren't aspects of my former life that were better and ways of doing things that were simpler and more efficient. However,the pros of living here far outweigh the cons.

 

I went to a mayoral function once. A large city with thousands of employees and the mayor was presenting awards for outstanding contributions to public service. There's a short line form the speech that has stuck with me and I am going to share it. The mayor acknowledged that there was constant work required to improve services and efficiency and that council employees were the key in making things work....the line was "don't just submit problems...submit solutions".

 

On this public forum I would really like people to acknowledge the problems but not make them the focal point of everything. The focal point should always be the solution and how you can help.

Think about it.

 

 

Yes the the bus drivers vacancy is a job, I agree, but at $25 a hour on day shift is it really worth it having two trips a day to the depot...petrol costs, two lots of meals etc etc and having to pay back the fee for the licence...no wonder it's regularly advertised...

 

i understand what your hubbie went through and pleased he got his new licences, and studied at tafe for a year....are the certificates any good where he works now, bunnos was it?

 

its no wonder this state is falling apart and has been for a number of years....people and businesses will not invest here...

 

by the way is the mayor still in office And still feathering his own nest

 

please show me and newbies the hundreds of new long term full time not casual jobs being created,

Edited May 10, 2015 by Guest14361

[deryans]

I don't think that you are reading things correctly. Unemployment is never a good thing but for individuals who thrive on Adelaide bad news stories it might be a good thing. It gives them something else to use to grind Adelaide, it's people and way of life into the dirt.

 

The bus drivers vacancies is part of another thread...not this one. It's part of a positive thread to try in some small way help someone secure employment. It was posted by Jessica in the hope that someone may find work. What was your response to this? Your response was to highlight the cost of the licence and the fact that a split shift was inconvenient to an employee. Every job has it's downsides but it's a job...right?

 

You are right my hubbies licence wasn't any use here. We moved across the world to another country where you can transfer car licences over but require heavy vehicle licence holders to do a test again. That's the way it is. You can moan about it. You can try fighting the system and bash your head at the reasoning behind it...you can bitch and moan, and put it on your list of things that make you miss the greener grass back home...OR, you accept it, move on, do the test and put the expense and inconvenience behind you. If this solution isn't for you then you may as well head to Sir Donald Bradman Drive and take a flight back home. My hubbie now has his Australian HR licence. My hubbie also wasn't allowed to follow his occupation. His training qualifications were not recognised here. Did he quit? Did he join a public forum and spew his negativity at every opportunity? No. He put himself through TAFE for a year, obtained the training qualification and moved forwards. What choice was there? We moved to give our children a future...a better life, so we sacrifice and knuckle down...and make it work.

 

Moving to a new land is a compromise in many respects. I am settled here and wouldn't move for the world. That doesn't mean that there weren't aspects of my former life that were better and ways of doing things that were simpler and more efficient. However,the pros of living here far outweigh the cons.

 

I went to a mayoral function once. A large city with thousands of employees and the mayor was presenting awards for outstanding contributions to public service. There's a short line form the speech that has stuck with me and I am going to share it. The mayor acknowledged that there was constant work required to improve services and efficiency and that council employees were the key in making things work....the line was "don't just submit problems...submit solutions".

 

On this public forum I would really like people to acknowledge the problems but not make them the focal point of everything. The focal point should always be the solution and how you can help.

Think about it.

 

I admire and Totally applaud you and your husband for getting stuck in and making it work , for whatever you managed to make out of it , well done.

 

Some people on here might think that I'm acidic to the posters here, I am not, I have not a single ounce of malice in me for people who emigrate here and try and start up again, it takes courage and conviction.

 

I do however (as you may have noticed) reserve some quantity of acerbic and disdain for the so called leadership of SA, they feather their own nest, bounce around committing to nothing, no investment, no benevolence towards their teams, randomly and secret announcements of "New CIO's, CEO's etc".

 

I have worked with so called leaders of business in the Public Sector and Private sector and I am left breathless with their lack of vision and fear that the place is dying, they are not stupid, but they lack the courage and conviction (such as shown by your husband and yourself) to make it happen, they are afraid.

 

They spin special good-news messages, but everyone knows deep down that there are critical problems in SA, I was not happy at all about leaving because it should have been a new start, but now I'm out I actually feel like I've dodged a bullet, escaped if you like.

 

I deliver strategy for a living, and I'm of reasonable (somewhere between my 7 year old and 10 year old at a push) intellect, however I'm not sure which ever way I cut it, I can see a solution for SA, Leadership has to go and you have to start again. I don't have any advice save to say if the captain of the ship consistently puts the boat on the rocks, get rid of him and move on.

 

Can you imagine (and here's a FOI to ask for) what the annual SA public service predicted pension liability will be in 3 years time ?

 

clue , it;s not in the millions, more than that I'd bet.

 

News is news, bad or otherwise, no apologies on that.

Edited May 10, 2015 by deryans
spelling

[deryans]

deja vu! ?

 

http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/forum/jobs-careers/38827-sa-unemployment-rate-surged-7-1-a.html

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

I admire and Totally applaud you and your husband for getting stuck in and making it work , for whatever you managed to make out of it , well done.

 

Some people on here might think that I'm acidic to the posters here, I am not, I have not a single ounce of malice in me for people who emigrate here and try and start up again, it takes courage and conviction.

 

I do however (as you may have noticed) reserve some quantity of acerbic and disdain for the so called leadership of SA, they feather their own nest, bounce around committing to nothing, no investment, no benevolence towards their teams, randomly and secret announcements of "New CIO's, CEO's etc".

 

I have worked with so called leaders of business in the Public Sector and Private sector and I am left breathless with their lack of vision and fear that the place is dying, they are not stupid, but they lack the courage and conviction (such as shown by your husband and yourself) to make it happen, they are afraid.

 

They spin special good-news messages, but everyone knows deep down that there are critical problems in SA, I was not happy at all about leaving because it should have been a new start, but now I'm out I actually feel like I've dodged a bullet, escaped if you like.

 

I deliver strategy for a living, and I'm of reasonable (somewhere between my 7 year old and 10 year old at a push) intellect, however I'm not sure which ever way I cut it, I can see a solution for SA, Leadership has to go and you have to start again. I don't have any advice save to say if the captain of the ship consistently puts the boat on the rocks, get rid of him and move on.

 

Can you imagine (and here's a FOI to ask for) what the annual SA public service predicted pension liability will be in 3 years time ?

 

clue , it;s not in the millions, more than that I'd bet.

 

News is news, bad or otherwise, no apologies on that.

 

I have a proposal for you.

In the time that you were here and due to the position that you held you must have met many people. No-one is denying that it's difficult to get work at the moment. Can you please help? With the contacts that you have and the local knowledge it would be brilliant if you could assist some of those looking for work...Imagine the positive impact that you could have on new migrant families.

You could transform lives, and at least give people an opportunity to decide whether the move was right for them without the financial pressure and stress of looking for work. I may be able to assist wit the occasional lead with an entry level job that brings in a few Dollars but with your knowledge and network of people you could make a real difference in your professional field.?

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

i understand what your hubbie went through and pleased he got his new licences, and studied at tafe for a year....are the certificates any good where he works now, bunnos was it?

 

Yes, the certificate is good but unfortunately the licence and the training certificate hasn't been utilised in his present job. Life throws you curve balls at times you see. He is very ill but his colleagues at "bunnos" are the most wonderful people he has ever had the good fortune to work with. His managers and his work mates make allowance for his degenerative condition and he will likely be working there until he dies. His twenty odd dollars an hour is small compared to the salary he had overseas but he chooses to work rather than claim Newstart or disability.

Giving our children an opportunity in this wonderful land are all that matters.

What started out as a job to bring in cash whilst attending TAFE has developed into a longer term job. I guess that you never know what life will throw at you but we are both thankful for the flexibility of his everyday "bunnos" job thank you.