VICTORIA'S regions are suffering from a rise in unemployment despite the overall improvement in the state's labour market and economy.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
The towns and regional centres outside Melbourne recorded unemployment of 6 per cent at the end of September, up from 5.5 per cent a year earlier, according to figures released by the federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
In Melbourne, where three-quarters of Victoria's labour force lives, unemployment fell for the same period from 5.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent.
In Southbank and Docklands unemployment was just 1.5 per cent.
While much of the state appeared to have shrugged off the effects of the global financial crisis, there were a number of areas in Melbourne and the regions where unemployment rose sharply during 2010.
Job service providers and analysts say part of the reason is the poor health of Victoria's manufacturing industry, which has lost more than 30,000 jobs since early 2008 and is no longer the state's biggest employer.
The claim is backed up by figures of 12.9 per cent unemployment for Dandenong and 15.9 per cent for Broadmeadows - areas with significant manufacturing industries.
It is a similar tale in the regions, with Ballarat recording some of the sharpest rising joblessness in Victoria. South Ballarat recorded unemployment of 9.8 per cent, up from 8 per cent a year earlier. During the downturn, Ballarat's manufacturing sector fared poorly, with job losses at firms including John Valves and MaxiTRANS.
Bendigo has experienced rising joblessness, with Eaglehawk recording 10 per cent unemployment. Corio and Morwell have also felt the pain of joblessness.
The state's new Coalition government has vowed to rebuild areas of the economy it claims were neglected by Labor, with Treasurer Kim Wells saying agriculture and manufacturing are priorities.
''We have an enormous reliance on building brand new houses in this state - I don't think long-term that that is sustainable,'' he said this week.
Despite the Coalition having blamed some of the job losses on Labor's manufacturing policies, it failed to produce a policy of its own before the election, even though it promised it would. Instead, it released a grab bag of promises related to manufacturing. Among them was a promise to largely manufacture locally the 40 new trains it said it would buy.
Victoria's labour market changed considerably during the financial crisis. From May 2008 to late 2010 construction and retail grew by more than 25,000 jobs - both sectors were direct beneficiaries of the federal government's stimulus spending - while manufacturing fell sharply and agriculture, forestry and fishing were flat.
