Tasmania is shedding hundreds of jobs, going by the latest figures, as business pushes for a border reopening in early December.
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Payroll jobs decreased by a nation's worst 0.9 per cent in the fortnight to September 25, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Thursday.
That would represent in the order of 2000 lost jobs, as a rough estimate.
Queensland (0.3 per cent) was the only other state or territory to go backwards, with payroll jobs nationally up by 0.2 per cent despite the coronavirus lockdowns in Victoria and New South Wales.
The figures were more recent than the ABS' latest labor force figures, which estimate the number of employed people, rather than payroll jobs.
Those figures, for the month to mid-September, estimated an extra 900 Tasmanians became employed in seasonally adjusted terms, taking employment to a record 263,100.
The ongoing labour force series suggested Tasmanian jobs had recovered strongly - albeit with a couple of hiccups - since they crashed in mid-2020 when the coronavirus-driven economic crisis hit the state.
Tasmania's future jobs trajectory is set to be heavily linked to the timing and extent of the easing of border restrictions.
The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Tasmanian Small Business Council on Tuesday urged the state government to open the borders to all states from December 1.
"We shouldn't keep our borders closed a day longer than we have to," TCCI chief executive Michael Bailey said.
"Tasmania's border to Sydney has been closed since early July, and to Victoria since late August, which has kept families apart and caused a major drag on our business, tourism and hospitality sectors.
"By announcing an opening on December 1, it will provide certainty and lay the groundwork for a bumper summer in Tasmania, particularly for our tourism and hospitality sectors.
"As we all know - we can't keep Delta out forever.
"It's time for Tasmania to safely rejoin the world."
Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff on Wednesday said 70 per cent of Tasmanians aged 16 or older were now fully vaccinated.
"More than 85 per cent of people aged 16 years or older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which means we are tracking well to hit 90 per cent fully vaccinated by the start of December," he said.