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Job seekers hit 17-year high

Job seekers hit 17-year high

The number of people without a job across Australia has hit its highest level in 17 years.

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the jobless rate was steady at 6.2 per cent through October.

That was despite a lift of 24,100 in the total number of people in work.

There are now 772,000 people looking for a job, an increase of 7,100 over September. That is the largest number of Australians looking for a job since July 1997.

Full time employment lifted by 33,400 while part time employment fell by 9400.

There was a 10,900 lift in the number of people looking for a full time job.

The ABS figures are at the centre of an investigation after the bureau conceded changes it made to the jobs survey in February.

In WA, the unemployment rate lifted to 5.2 per cent from 5 per cent despite a solid 8900 increase in the total number of people with a full time job.

There was also a lift in part time employment, taking the number of West Australians in work to an all time high of 1.38 million.

But a lift in the participation rate meant there was also a 2400 increase in the number of people looking for work.

Elsewhere, unemployment remained elevated at 6.8 per cent in Victoria where the issue of jobs is key in the upcoming State election.

Unemployment fell in NSW to 5.7 per cent while it was also down in Tasmania (6.9 per cent) and the Northern Territory (to 4 per cent).

But it jumped sharply in Queensland to 7 per cent (from 6.3 per cent), while it was also up in the ACT (to 5.4 per cent) and steady in South Australia (at 6.7 per cent).