Unemployment rates have fallen in Launceston and every other council area in Tasmania’s North.
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Launceston’s unemployment rate tumbled from 8.2 per cent to 6.8 per cent between the June quarter of 2017 and the June quarter of 2018, according to figures from the federal Jobs and Small Business Department.
The department estimated the number of Launceston residents technically unemployed declined from 2726 to 2338 during the period.
The Dorset and Flinders municipalities also had dramatic drops in their unemployment rates.
Unemployment at Dorset dropped from 6.1 per cent to 4.8 per cent.
Flinders went from 6.2 per cent to 4.7 per cent.
West Tamar and Meander Valley also made strong inroads on unemployment, despite already having the region’s lowest unemployment rates.
The jobless rate at West Tamar fell from 4.6 per cent to 3.8 per cent.
That was far below the state rate, which edged down from 6.1 per cent to 6 per cent.
Meander Valley went from 4.1 per cent to a regional low of 3.4 per cent.
George Town had the biggest fall in unemployment - 2.2 percentage points - but its rate remained at a high 8.3 per cent.
Only Break O’Day had a higher rate, at 8.6 per cent.
That had improved by 1.6 percentage points.
Northern Midlands went from 5 per cent to 4.4 per cent.
The drops in unemployment were consistent with separate Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing strong jobs growth in the region.
The ABS estimated the region averaged 2000 more jobs per month in the year to September than in the previous year.
The South had gained 3900 jobs on the same measure, while the North-West and West were down by 900.
In contrast to the North, unemployment rates increased in all nine Cradle Coast council areas.
The Jobs and Small Business Department’s figures showed the spike in joblessness had been particularly strong in the region’s two cities - Devonport and Burnie - and on the West Coast.
The figures showed the West Coast’s unemployment rate increased from 7.5 per cent to a region’s highest 8.5 per cent between the June quarter of 2017 and the June quarter of 2018.
Unemployment rocketed from 7.2 per cent to 8.4 per cent in Devonport.