The ACT's jobless rate has fallen and remained at national lows, with the government crediting major infrastructure projects for the growth in employment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Canberra's unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 3.6 per cent in June, the lowest in the country, according to trend figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
The ACT's participation rate remained unchanged between May and June.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said employment growth was likely to continue with projects such as the start of construction of the light rail network and international flights beginning in September.
"The ACT government has invested significantly in recent years to ensure Canberra weathered the storm of the Commonwealth's cuts," Mr Barr said.
About 3100 new jobs were created in the ACT during the year, the ABS data showed.
Nationally trend unemployment remained steady at 5.7 per cent, while the seasonally unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.8 per cent.
"Trend series smooth the more volatile seasonally adjusted estimates and provide the best measure of the underlying behaviour of the labour market," ABS statistics division manager Bruce Hockman said.
Mr Barr said Canberra's light rail project would create thousands of jobs and attract international investment and the economy would be further boosted by international flights.
"Direct international flights also support one of Canberra's biggest employment sectors – our tertiary education institutions who are set to expand their offerings internationally," he said.
