Parramatta. Unemployment on the rise

The unemployment rate for the Parramatta local government area (LGA) in the December quarter 2008 was 4.6 per cent, up from 4.1 per cent over the previous period, and up from 3.9 per cent in the same quarter 2007. The LGA figure masks the disparity in the rate across the city’s 29 suburbs. For example, the rate in South Granville at the census in June 2006 was between 10 per cent and 25 per cent, while that in parts of Winston Hills and Carlingford was 4 per cent or less. By comparison, the Small Area Labour Markets figure for the LGA, in the June quarter 2006, was 4.7 per cent