THE youth unemployment rate has almost doubled in the NSW Murray region, forcing some young people to leave the Border and others to rely on limited casual work while they study.
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New Australian Bureau of Statistics data released yesterday by the Brotherhood of St Laurence showed the number of young jobseekers jumped from 7.9 per cent in July last year to 15.3 per cent this year.
The increase was the highest in NSW.
Lily King, 18, who moved to the Border with her partner, will be forced to return to the Sunshine Coast after she was unable to find work.
“There’s not really anything around,” she said.
“My boyfriend has had to pay all the rent.
“It would have been easier to have a job even a couple of days a week just so I could have money to help.”
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Drake International Albury senior consultant Nicol Rumble said he was not surprised by the jobless rate increase because the number of jobs passing across his desk was limited.
“Youth unemployment is everywhere,” he said.
“There are people who are under 22 without a trade and they are doing it very tough because they have nothing to compete with.”
Mr Rumble said he did not see the youth unemployment rate improving until employers started to train new employees.
“They are not willing to do that at the moment,” he said.
“A lot of employers are relying on labour hire and putting people on when they need them and then putting them off.”
Mr Rumble said those who came through his door of their own volition were genuinely looking for work.
“There are just not enough jobs to cater to the demand,” he said.
Thurgoona’s Sarah Anstee, 21, recently moved back to the Border from Perth with three years of retail experience.
She has been looking for a full-time job for the past six months but has been unsuccessful.
“I was applying for a new one every week,” she said.
“I got a couple of interviews but that many people were going for the job I wasn’t successful in any of them.”
Ms Anstee has since started studying nursing at Wodonga TAFE.
“I now get Centrelink because I’m studying but I have to live at home because I can’t afford to move out,” she said.
“I’m only just scraping by.”
Member for Farrer Sussan Ley said the figures were a huge concern.
“Our biggest task as a new government is to get this nation’s economy back on track,” she said.
Ms Ley said they were working on a strategy to restore business confidence in towns and farming communities to make it easier for them to compete and employ more people.
“Helping our school leavers train in areas of job demand through either vocational education or university study is another critical area we’re addressing,” she said.