New South Wales Coal Jobs Drop Below 20,000

The Newcastle Herald reported that New South Wales coal production jobs have dropped below 20,000 for the first time since the last five years. Hunter Valley’s official unemployment rate remains higher than the state average from only two years ago.

As quoted in the market news:

The latest monthly jobs data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics put the Hunter Valley’s unemployment rate for December at 6.5 per cent – an improvement from 9.3 per cent in November but a significant increase from 3.8 per cent recorded for December 2012.

Newcastle and L ake Macquarie’s unemployment rate is at 8.2 per cent, up from 5.4 per cent at the close of 2012. While the number of people unemployed in the region has risen sharply in two years, the state unemployment rate is currently 5.7 per cent, up only up 0.8 per cent in the same period.

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