4.4% ▼ -6.0%
Lower than 65% of state electorate areas.
- 2011: 4.7%
- 2016: 5.5%
- 2021: 4.4%
Unemployed people as a share of the labour force (aged 15+).
Southern Downs · State Electorate
Jobs & Industry in Southern Downs
Work across the area — who is in the labour force, in which industries and jobs.
A sharp drop in the number of people working or looking for work is the big story for Southern Downs since 2011. While the unemployment rate has stayed steady at 4.4%, the overall share of adults in the workforce has fallen by 14 percentage points. This shift comes as the area maintains a strong reliance on agriculture and management roles.
Labour force
Employment, participation and unemployment.
Only 54.2% of adults are working or looking for work, which is well below the national figure of 61.1%. While full-time employment sits at 58.6%, this is 7.3 percentage points lower than it was in 2011.
54.2% ▼ -20.9%
Lower than 84% of state electorate areas.
- 2011: 68.5%
- 2016: 68.4%
- 2021: 54.2%
Share of people aged 15+ who are in the labour force.
58.6% ▼ -11.1%
Lower than 51% of state electorate areas.
- 2011: 65.9%
- 2016: 65.2%
- 2021: 58.6%
Share of employed people who worked full-time.
Industries
The industries that employ local workers.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing is the biggest employer in the region at 17.8%. Other main industries include health care and social assistance at 12.6%, and retail trade at 10.1%.
Occupations
The kinds of jobs people do.
Managers and labourers are the most common roles here, making up 17.2% and 17.0% of the workforce respectively. Professionals and technicians or tradespeople follow closely, each accounting for about 12% of jobs.
Sources
- Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
More for Southern Downs
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Jobs & Industry in Southern Downs [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sed/SED30077/southern-downs/topic/employment