Chart shows economic conditions are picking up in Australia's mining states

The Australian labour market continues to soar as employment surged by 27,900 in seasonally adjusted terms last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed. The job growth comes as economic conditions pick up in the country’s mining territories and states.

IFM Investors chief economist Alex Joiner tweeted a couple of charts on Thursday that show how the mining industry is doing. The charts from Joiner fit included latest jobs data from Seek and vacancy figures from Australia’s Department of Employment.

There has been a strong pickup in demand for mining sector workers, the charts reveal. They indicate that stronger commodity prices start to filter through to labour market conditions in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

One of the charts reveals that annual employment growth in mining states and territories is rising at a faster pace compared to other parts of the country since 2014. Another chart shows stronger hiring levels have resulted to a drop in unemployment in the locations.

South Australia’s jobs situation

Meanwhile, experts urge the federal government to put off the changes in university funding due to SA’s unstable jobs situation. The closure of automotive manufacturing industry meant the funding changes should be postponed for 12 months, an employment expert said.

Flinders University Professor John Spoehr argued that the freeze on the changes was necessary to prevent “upward pressure” on SA’s unemployment rate. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has dropped to 6.2 percent from 6.6 percent.

“We are managing to keep it (the unemployment rate) below 7 per cent but there is a high risk that these measures, in combination with losses in the automotive and defence sectors, will work against containing unemployment,” The Advertiser quotes Spoehr as saying. He added the loss of automotive manufacturing is one of the most significant industry closures in SA’s history.

Susan Close, the acting state employment minister, said that SA needs a government that recognises challenges and pays attention to investment and employment. She believes the closure of Holden will cause more pain for the state.

But Opposition employment spokesman Corey Wingard said it is clear that the government does not have a cogent plan to turn around the situation. “It remains a huge concern that this government has failed to articulate an economic strategy to counter the loss of thousands of jobs in the automotive sector when Holden shuts its doors,” he said.

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