By VANESSA VALENZUELA
BRIMBANK’s unemployment rate has dropped slightly in the past five years but still remains higher than the state average, new census figures show.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed there were 83,280 people in Brimbank who reported being in the labour force in the week before census night last year.
A total of 57.6 per cent of Brimbank workers held full-time positions while 27.3 per cent were employed part-time.
The local unemployment rate in Brimbank dropped from 8.9 per cent in 2006 to 8.3 per cent in 2011, with 6,899 residents out of work last year.
The figures were released just days before fourty workers from The Precision Tube in Sunshine would lost their jobs after steelmaker Arrium decided to shut it down.
Workers at Precision Tube Business, which produces steel tubing and poles for major Australian car makers, were told last week that the business would shut in February.
The Federal Member for Maribyrnong and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Bill Shorten said his thoughts were with the workers and their families.
“I am aware that Precision Tube is undertaking a business review and trust the company will do everything it can to accommodate these workers in other Arrium businesses and assist with up-skilling and retraining where employees cannot be redeployed,” Mr Shorten said.
“I have ensured my department is in regular contact with the company to ensure affected workers receive all available government support, including through Job Services Australia network.”
Despite the recent job cuts, Mr Shorten said his department was projecting that Melbourne’s west would lead Australia in job creation over the next five years.
Census data also revealed 10.5 per cent of people in Brimbank worked between one to 15 hours, 22.9 per cent worked 25 to 35 hours and 40.1 per cent worked 40 hours or more.
The most common Brimbank occupations included clerical and administrative workers (15.2 per cent), technicians and trades workers (14.8 per cent) and labourers (14 per cent).
Figures revealed the median weekly household income in Brimbank was $1,106 compared to only $921 in 2006.
On the day of the census, 71.6 per cent of Brimbank workers travelled to work by car, with only 12.5 per cent of people employed travelling to work by public transport.
Of people aged 15 and over, 57.6 per cent did unpaid domestic work in the week before the census, and only nine per cent of people did voluntary work through an organisation or group.
