South Australia's unemployment rate has soared to become the nation's highest at 6.9 per cent, new data shows.
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The seasonally-adjusted figure rose 0.9 per cent in July to the state's highest jobless rate since May 2017, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Opposition treasury spokesman Stephen Mullighan blamed the spike on the Liberal government's latest budget.
"After smashing household confidence with record increases in fees and charges, business is now concerned about uncertainty surrounding land tax changes," he said.
"Steven Marshall promised more jobs, yet South Australia now has the highest unemployment rate in the nation."
The national unemployment rate remained steady at 5.2 per cent, despite the addition of 41,000 people to Australia's workforce in July.
While the rate remains below 5.0 per cent in NSW, Victoria, Northern Territory and the ACT, the states of Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland recorded figures of 5.9 per cent or higher.
SA treasurer Rob Lucas said a record 856,300 South Australians were gainfully employed in July, and more than 15,500 jobs have been created since March last year.
But he admitted he was disappointed by the state's jobless rate, which he said demonstrates the need for ongoing economic reform.
"That's why we're forging ahead with our sound economic policies, including payroll tax cuts, millions in land tax and (emergency services levy) bill reductions and a significant $11.9 billion infrastructure program creating a pipeline of jobs," he said on Thursday.
"The job impact of the $90 billion in defence industry related work will also start to be felt by the end of the year."
Australian Associated Press