WA jobless rate soars in March
Chris Zappone
April 9, 2009 - 12:22PM
WA's unemployment rate leaped almost 1% in March, the second-highest jump of any state, as mass redundancies bite into the state's job market.
The state's jobless rate rose to 4.9%, seasonally adjusted, from 4.1% in February on the back of layoffs announced by corporations including miners Rio Tinto, Norilsk Nickel and Iluka; Bankwest; and the state's largest meat exporter, Harvey Beef.
Only NSW had a bigger jump in jobless figures, with the seasonally adjusted rate hitting 6.9% in March, from 5.9%, a full percentage point jump.
The jobless rate in fellow resource state Queensland rose to 4.8% from 4.5%. South Australia nudged up to 5.9% from 5.7%, while Victoria, which benefits from a diverse economy, rose only 0.1 of a percentage point to 5.7%.