"Stunning” job lift

More than 32,000 Western Australians found jobs in August, and the unemployment rate plunged 1.3 percentage points, as the nation posted a big improvement.

WA now has a (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate of 7 per cent, down from 8.3 per cent in July, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

That coincides with a significant improvement nationally, as the unemployment rate fell from 7.5 per cent to 6.8 per cent.

But almost all of the improvement in WA was part-time jobs, rather than full time.

The number of people employed part time lifted by 30,900 in WA to be around 453,000.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said the jobs data was stunning.

“There is no doubt that this is a stunning set of job figures,” he said. 

“More people were looking for jobs in August, more people found jobs, and more employees reconnected to their workplaces. 

“The jobless rate fell sharply and a six-digit gain in jobs was recorded.

“More than 86,000 unemployed people found work. 

“The cherry on top was a drop in the youth jobless rate from 16.3 per cent to 14.3 per cent. 

“The job programs are clearly working as intended.”