While the national unemployment rate might be 5.7% this average unemployment hides important variations. The Australia Institute has assessed unemployment by regional variation by federal electorate using Department of Employment data.
The average unemployment rate in South Australia is 6.8%, but the unemployment rate varies significantly across the state, from 5.0% in Boothby to 10.6% in Port Adelaide.
Electorate |
Party |
Unemployment rate |
Change in unemployment rate since 2013 election |
BOOTHBY |
LIB |
5.0% |
+1.8% |
MAKIN |
ALP |
5.4% |
+0.4% |
STURT |
LIB |
5.5% |
+0.7% |
HINDMARSH |
LIB |
5.9% |
+1.4% |
MAYO |
LIB |
6.2% |
+1.2% |
ADELAIDE |
ALP |
6.7% |
+0.8% |
BARKER |
LIB |
7.5% |
+1.4% |
GREY |
LIB |
7.7% |
+0.9% |
KINGSTON |
ALP |
10.1% |
+3.8% |
WAKEFIELD |
ALP |
10.6% |
+1.0% |
PORT ADELAIDE |
ALP |
10.6% |
+1.5% |
South Australia has a large number of electorates with some of the worst unemployment rates in the country. Of the 7 electorates nationally with unemployment rates above 10%, South Australia has 3. This is a very large proportion given that South Australia only has 11 of the 150 electorates nationally.