Small Area Labour Markets (SALM) presents regional estimates of unemployment and the unemployment rate at 2 small area levels:
- approximately 2,300 Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s), which are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as medium –sized general-purpose areas that represent a community that interacts together socially and economically, and
- approximately 540 Australian Local Government Areas (LGAs).
Our latest SALM estimates for the December 2024 quarter show that, in smoothed terms (the methodology for ‘smoothing’ the data can be found in the Explanatory Notes section of the latest report):
- Almost three-quarters of SA2s (74.7%) recorded an unemployment rate of less than 5% in the December quarter 2024. This is down from 78.4% in the December quarter 2023. In addition, just 4.1% of SA2s recorded an unemployment rate of 10% or more, up from 3.7% recorded a year ago.
- As shown in Chart 1, the number of SA2s with an unemployment rate of less than 5% decreased over the year, from 1,601 in the December quarter 2023, to 1,527 in the December quarter 2024.
- At the same time, the number of SA2s with an unemployment rate of 10% or more increased, from 75 in the December quarter 2023, to 83 in the December quarter 2024.
- Around a third (31.5%) of SA2s recorded a decrease in their unemployment rate over the year to the December quarter 2024, down from 49.2% of SA2s recorded over the year to the December quarter 2023.
Chart 1: Number of SA2s by unemployment rate
| UER | Dec-23 | Dec-24 |
|---|---|---|
| 0.0 to 1.9 | 436 | 350 |
| 2.0 to 4.9 | 1165 | 1177 |
| 5.0 to 6.9 | 235 | 285 |
| 7.0 to 9.9 | 132 | 148 |
| 10.0 to 14.9 | 48 | 50 |
| 15.0 or higher | 27 | 33 |
| Total | 2043 | 2043 |
The department recommends that SALM users review the ‘smoothed’ SALM data, which are created by applying a four-quarter average to ‘unsmoothed’ SALM data. While the smoothed data will lag actual changes in labour market conditions, they also reduce the high level of statistical variability inherent in small area estimates.
Learn more about the latest data via the SALM webpage.