The Illawarra's unemployment rate dipped below 10 per cent last month but was still well above the national average, according to figures just released.
There are hopes that work on Federal Government-funded school building projects over the Christmas holidays will help improve the region's jobless rate, revealed yesterday to be 9.3 per cent for November.
The unemployment rate for the area including Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama dipped slightly from the previous month's 10.5 per cent but still compared poorly to the state and national figures, both 5.7 per cent.
Massive jump in ranks of jobless
Jobless rate drops - but don't pop champagne yetIt was much worse for young people in the Illawarra - 29 per cent for those aged from 15 to 19 and 14.2 per cent for those aged 20 to 24.
Outgoing Throsby Labor MP Jennie George said the Government had tripled incentives for employers who took on apprentices before the end of February in the hope of finding work for school leavers.
"The stats are showing us the area that is most problematic is young people," Ms George said.
"What we are seeing is school leavers entering the market and showing up as unemployed."
Ms George said the end of the school year signalled the start for many school building projects funded by the Government's stimulus measures and she was confident this, as well as an increase in retail jobs over Christmas, would lead to an improvement in the jobless figure in coming months.
"To be fair there is still a way to go, particularly in the construction industry which is a good litmus test for the region's economy," Ms George said.
"Most of the primary school projects will be coming online over the Christmas holidays ... and I think we'll see a major improvement in that sector."
Ms George predicted construction firm Wideform's fall into administration would not impact on the figures because most employees who left were picked up by other employers.
She said business at BlueScope Steel was "picking up - but things are still very slow".
New state accounts data released yesterday shows the NSW economy grew by $634 million to $382 billion over the 2008-09 financial year.
The NSW economy is now forecast to grow by 1.5 per cent in 2009-10, compared to the 0.5 per cent contraction forecast at budget time.
Acting NSW Treasurer John Hatzistergos said the figures revealed NSW was the engine room of the Australian economy.
"NSW was hit first and hardest by the global financial crisis but we are now seeing the signs of a sustained recovery in the NSW economy," he said.
On Wednesday, national accounts showed that the Australian economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the September quarter, but the growth had slowed since the previous quarter.
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