Unemployment and social disadvantage: A tale of five cities

The study discussed in this paper further explores the complicated and complex nature of unemployment. It considers various time series labour force data at national, state and local government area levels in which it can be seen that there are various factors at play with different degrees of influence in both the labour force and the various labour markets that operate within Australia. When looking at local government area data this study demonstrates that there are substantial differences in the rates of unemployment between five cities located in the Sydney metropolitan region (the cities of Blacktown, Fairfield, Parramatta, Ryde and Willoughby). Furthermore, the level of social disadvantage (or otherwise) for these cities appears to have an impact on the level of unemployment. This study also highlights some limitations in local labour force data currently being collected as well as recommending a change of policy in how unemployment should be both analysed and addressed within Australia.