A surge in the ACT's jobless rate has caused the territory to have the weakest jobs market in the nation, a new report has found.
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The quarterly CommSec State of the States report said the territory's unemployment rate of 4.9 per cent is 23 per cent above the decade average rate of 4 per cent.
However, the ACT has overall been deemed the third-best performing jurisdiction, boosted by the strongest retail spend in the country.
But the weak jobs market has caused the ACT to slip down in the rankings, after Victoria overtook the territory to take out the second spot. Tasmania took out the top spot for the sixth consecutive quarter.
The report calculated the strength of jobs markets by measuring the unemployment rate of each state and territory and compared this with its decade average.
The ACT and the Northern Territory are the only two jurisdictions where its June 2021 unemployment rate is above its decade average.
Tasmania had the strongest jobs market with its unemployment rate of 4.5 per cent, 30.8 per cent below the decade average.
The ACT's unemployment rate surged in June, with the rate of 4.9 per cent up from 3.6 per cent in May. ACT Treasury said this represented a decline of 5900 people; part-time employment fell by 4000 people and full-time employment was down by 1900 people.
But the unemployment rate is still higher in South Australia (5.3 per cent), NSW (5.1 per cent) and Western Australia (5.1 per cent). Victoria has the lowest unemployment rate at 4.4 per cent. The national rate is 4.9 per cent.
While the ACT fell behind on unemployment, the territory performed relatively well in the other economic indicators analysed in the CommSec report.
Retail spending in the ACT was up 17.6 per cent on the decade average, which was the strongest of all jurisdictions.
New dwelling starts in the ACT rose sharply, and was 42.3 per cent above the decade average. This was the second highest in the nation, behind Tasmania where it is 61.1 per cent above the decade average.
Home loans in the ACT are up 93 per cent on the decade average, behind Victoria (100.3 per cent) and NSW (93.8 per cent).
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CommSec chief economist Craig James said all states and territories were performing well in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It is important to note that all states and territories are performing solidly," he said.
"That is no small feat in an environment dominated by COVID-19 with the frequent, but necessary, lockdowns and border closures.
"The aim is to protect the health of Australians while substantial stimulus and support measures protect economies."
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