{"id":819468,"date":"2026-07-23T21:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/819468\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T21:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:25:13","slug":"victorias-unemployment-rate-sits-above-fellow-states-at-5-1-per-cent-as-the-national-average-was-4-4-per-cent-in-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/819468\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria’s unemployment rate sits above fellow states at 5.1 per cent as the national average was 4.4 per cent in June"},"content":{"rendered":"

One state\u2019s unemployment rate is surging above the rest as it faces a series of “economic problems” keeping unemployment elevated.<\/p>\n

The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday revealed the nation\u2019s unemployment rate was steady at 4.4 per cent in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most states had an unemployment rate below 4.4 per cent, but Victoria\u2019s rate of 5.1 per cent pushed the national average higher.<\/p>\n

Just over 200,000 unemployed people are in Victoria, making up just less than one third of all unemployed Australians.<\/p>\n

EQ Economics managing director Warren Hogan said Victoria\u2019s unemployment rate increase was a sign of economic troubles in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the last two years, you’ve seen Victorian unemployment rise by almost two percentage points from around 3.25 per cent to now being over five per cent,\u201d Mr Hogan told Business Now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rest of the country has gone from around 3.5 per cent to just over four per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we look at Victoria, it’s got a whole lot of economic problems as we know. But the rest of the country, this number signals economic strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the relatively low unemployment rate may also be a sign that cost of living pressures are forcing many Australians into work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the other big issue is the overall size of the workforce and the participation rate are now trending up again,\u201d Mr Hogan said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(This) suggests this cost of living crisis is making people go back into the workforce to find extra work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recent jobs data comes as an interest rate hike at next month\u2019s RBA meeting remains on the cards.<\/p>\n

Rates have been lifted three times since the beginning of 2026 and the RBA said another lift may be needed<\/a> if inflation continues to remain elevated.<\/p>\n

Mr Hogan said that Victoria continues to be the \u201cmost interest rate\u201d sensitive because that\u2019s where some of the country\u2019s largest mortgages are.<\/p>\n

\u201cVictoria’s obviously already got a soft economy and it’s got a massively expanding government having an influence on everything from construction through to the workforce,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, Victoria is going to get hit hard if we do have to see multiple rate hikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside the jobs data, the RBA will examine next week\u2019s inflation figures from the ABS.<\/p>\n

Trimmed mean inflation \u2013 the middle 70 per cent of price changes \u2013 continues to sit outside the RBA\u2019s 2-3 per cent target band at 3.6 per cent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One state\u2019s unemployment rate is surging above the rest as it faces a series of “economic problems” keeping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[394692,394665,394678,394701,394679,394658,394664,394674,10968,394671,394706,394697,394685,376435,394681,394676,387600,3131,394659,394667,394708,394688,394694,394670,394657,394656,64,63,99,14821,32092,394705,11758,41262,21450,394699,394682,156483,394690,164,394672,394668,5465,9565,224919,19433,394666,394673,394695,388964,295178,389089,394702,394669,394684,235081,51485,394704,1861,20246,93095,14825,394687,378904,11499,394663,384862,383252,377055,392981,313300,394686,394680,394683,188490,394693,394696,394689,394707,394700,377403,394661,394677,378229,165057,394662,378922,394660,394698,394691,9357,39,394675,4847,165,660,394703,6624],"class_list":["post-819468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-s-2-3","tag-s-inflation-figures","tag-s-largest-mortgages","tag-s-rate","tag-s-rba-meeting","tag-s-unemployment-rate","tag-s-unemployment-rate-increase","tag-000-unemployed-people","tag-10968","tag-3-6","tag-4-4","tag-5-1","tag-a-massively-expanding-government","tag-a-series","tag-a-sign","tag-a-soft-economy","tag-a-whole-lot","tag-abs","tag-all-unemployed-australians","tag-almost-two-percentage-points","tag-an-influence","tag-an-interest-rate-hike","tag-an-unemployment-rate","tag-another-lift","tag-around-3-25","tag-around-3-5","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-cash-rate","tag-cent","tag-cent-target-band","tag-construction","tag-cost","tag-cpi","tag-economic-battles","tag-economic-problems","tag-economic-strength","tag-economic-troubles","tag-economy","tag-extra-work","tag-fellow-states","tag-inflation","tag-interest-rate","tag-jobs-data","tag-june","tag-just-less-than-one-third","tag-just-over-200","tag-just-over-four","tag-living-crisis","tag-living-pressures","tag-many-australians","tag-most-states","tag-mr-hogan","tag-multiple-rate-hikes","tag-next-month","tag-next-week","tag-one-state","tag-people","tag-picture","tag-price-changes","tag-rates","tag-sky-news-australia-eq-economics-managing-director-warren-hogan","tag-snapp-business","tag-statistics","tag-the-most-interest-rate","tag-the-abs","tag-the-australian-bureau","tag-the-beginning","tag-the-cards","tag-the-country","tag-the-jobs-data","tag-the-last-two-years","tag-the-middle-70","tag-the-nation","tag-the-national-average","tag-the-one-state","tag-the-other-big-issue","tag-the-overall-size","tag-the-participation-rate","tag-the-rba","tag-the-recent-jobs-data","tag-the-relatively-low-unemployment-rate","tag-the-rest","tag-the-state","tag-the-unemployment-rate","tag-the-workforce","tag-this-cost","tag-this-number","tag-three-times","tag-thursday","tag-top-stories","tag-trimmed","tag-unemployment","tag-unemployment-rate","tag-victoria","tag-victorian-unemployment-rise","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}