South Australia's strong economic rebound from COVID-19 continues to gather speed, with latest ABS data showing the state tops the nation for total jobs growth since the height of the pandemic.
And SA outperforms every other state and territory, except Western Australia, for the total value of employee wages paid since the COVID low point (April 18 2020) – rising 5.6 per cent, compared to 3.1 per cent nationally.
Total employee jobs in SA increased by a nation-leading 10.1 per cent in the ten months since April 18 - well above the national average of 7.2 per cent, according to the ABS Labour Force: Single Touch Payroll data released yesterday.
Treasurer Rob Lucas welcomed the figures as another positive sign of a rebounding local economy – with business conditions and confidence also high in recent independent surveys.
"South Australia continues to punch well above its weight in relation to our strong ongoing economic and jobs recovery from COVID-19, but we know there's much more work to be done," said Mr Lucas.
"That's why we've committed $4 billion in economic stimulus to turbo-charge the state's economy and grow jobs over the next 2 years.
"More than a quarter of a billion dollars in cash grants has been paid to small businesses and not-for-profits across SA to help them survive and trade through the COVID-19, supporting businesses who employ more than 104,000 jobs according to Treasury analysis.
"We also know record numbers of South Australians are signing up to build new homes*, the HomeBuilder program is going gangbusters and providing a critical pipeline of work and employment for the industry."
*ABS data released earlier this month shows South Australians' surging demand for new home builds reached a record high in seasonally adjusted terms in December last year – a staggering 34 per cent jump for the month and 67 per cent higher than a year ago.
