
Employment in regional Victoria has increased by 11,300 over the year according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures, Treasurer Michael O’Brien said today.
Victoria’s regional unemployment rate has remained steady at 6.1 per cent, below the national regional average of 6.4 percent over the three months to May.
“Victoria’s regional unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent is bettered only by resource-rich Western Australia,” Mr O’Brien said.
Employment over the year was led by North West region (11,200 persons) with Hume, Bendigo and LaTrobe-Gippsland also recording an increase over the same period.
Industry sector data, also released today, shows that the Coalition Government has the right approach to boosting jobs, growth and productivity in regional Victoria.
“Today’s data shows that our primary industries sector is continuing to drive strong growth in regional Victoria with over 17,000 new jobs created compared with the previous year,” Mr O’Brien said.
Across regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria has also experienced strong jobs growth over the year in the construction sector (6,400 persons), professional, technical and administrative services (8,900 persons) and health care (14,700 persons).
“These figures show that the Coalition Government has the right strategy and approach to managing Victoria’s diverse and flexible economy,” Mr O’Brien said.
“We are investing in a record $27 billion transformational infrastructure program that will create jobs right across Victoria, including our regional areas.
“In addition, our Regional Growth Fund has to-date delivered more than $400 million, leveraging over $1.6 billion investment in 1,500 projects across regional and rural Victoria.
“Daniel Andrews and Labor oppose the Coalition Government’s infrastructure agenda and are instead promising to spend billions of dollars on level crossing works in Melbourne. Labor’s priorities are a real risk to job creation and local economies in country Victoria.”