Victoria continues to lead the country in jobs growth despite a softening national economy, thanks to the Andrews Labor Government’s continued investments in health, education, roads and public transport.

Despite a downturn in Australia’s economy, a property slump and falling consumer confidence, Victoria’s economic fundamentals are strong.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics data confirms that 519,900 jobs have been created since November 2014 – more than anywhere else in Australia. The majority of those jobs – nearly 330,000 – were full time.

During the past 12 months alone, 91,700 jobs were created in Victoria, with 13,700 generated last month – again the best result in the country.

Victoria’s unemployment rate has also fallen to 4.6 per cent – the lowest of the states and a stark contrast to the unemployment rate of 6.7 per cent when the Labor Government was first elected.

The jobs data follows the 2019/20 Budget Update released last week, which showed Victoria’s budget is in surplus and our economic fundamentals are strong .

In the face of weakening national economic conditions and falling consumer confidence, Victoria continues to do the heavy lifting, generating jobs and boosting the nation’s economic growth.

Victoria’s state final demand grew by 1.8 percent over the year to the September quarter, the highest growth of the mainland states.

By comparison, national final demand grew by 0.9 per cent over the year to September – half of Victoria’s result.

The Budget Update also confirmed that government infrastructure investment is projected to average $13.9 billion annually over the next four years, nearly triple the average of $4.9 billion a year from 2005-06 to 2014-2015.