Their economic recovery has provided new jobs across the state
The Victorian government took pride in its sustained economic recovery as the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed that the state had the lowest regional unemployment across the nation.
According to the government, Victoria’s economic recovery has provided new jobs across the state, with the regional unemployment rate plunged to 3.2% in the three months to June, down 0.3 percentage points as the number of regional Victorians in work increased by 3,400 to more than 746,000.
Moreover, the ABS data showed that the national and regional unemployment rate now stands at 3.9%.
“The state’s regional unemployment rate is now less than half of the 6.6 percent regional jobless figure presided over by the former Coalition state government at the end of its lamentable reign,” the Victorian government said.
“The current unemployment rate in Warrnambool and the South West is just 0.9 percent while in Geelong and Shepparton it has fallen to 2 percent and 2.8 percent respectively,” it added.
According to the government, the regional unemployment figure matched Victoria’s statewide unemployment rate, which is the lowest in the country and the lowest in the state in almost 50 years.
“Like the regional figure, the overall jobless mark is less than half of what it was in November 2014 before the Labor Government was elected,” the government said.
Since 2014, the government has created more than 620,000 new jobs, “one in six of the record 3.54 million Victorian jobs that exist today.”
“There are more Victorians in work than ever before - an incredible achievement that demonstrates the strength of our economic recovery,” Treasurer Tim Pallas said.
“The fundamentals were in place for businesses to rebound strongly and we are seeing the benefits of that in new jobs across the state,” he added.
Even when the state still has COVID-19 cases, the government said businesses that struggled with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to recover smoothly.
Additionally, the government boasted that the Labor Government provided more than $13bil in business support to provide a foundation for renewal.
Given the Victorian government’s support for creating new jobs, the government said that the ABS labour force figures indicated that “Victoria has led the nation in jobs growth since September 2020 with nearly 350,000 jobs created.”
“The Government’s Jobs Plan set a target of creating 400,000 new jobs by 2025, and the recovery puts the state well ahead of schedule to achieve that target,” the government said.
