While the national average fell to 5.72 per cent in July, the Riverina greatly outperformed almost everyone else with an unemployment rate of just 3.3 per cent.

However, labour force underutilisation, combining unemployed and underemployed workers, is still elevated at 14.2 per cent nationally, while youth unemployment is now starting to edge higher again, rising from 12.2 per cent in January to 13 per cent in July.

Riverina-Murray Business Chamber regional manager Ben Foley said youth unemployment was a worry.

“While it’s fantastic to see the region has low unemployment levels overall, youth unemployment remains a concern in some areas,” Mr Foley said.

“A third of members consistently report they can’t access the skills they want.”

Sureway employment and training founder Judy Galloway said it was tough for young people to get full time jobs.

“There’s a lot of casual employment and less apprenticeships and traineeships taken up,” Mrs Galloway said.

“Traditionally young people have taken them up but now there are less opportunities in that area. 

“A lot may be underemployed and taking casual jobs that don’t offer much in the way of training, which perpetuates the problem of increasing youth unemployment.”

Participation in the labour market was also lower than previous years, with the vast bulk of employment growth coming from part time workers.

Businesses and communities needed to have a conversation about how to solve youth unemployment, Mrs Galloway said.

“There’s got to be a real focus on young people taking up training, but what happens is the casual rate is often higher than what an apprentice or trainee gets,” she said.

“The casual rate is 15 per cent higher than the normal hourly rate and a lot of young people have a short term fixation on income, but if they don’t get qualifications that enable them to increase their employment opportunities they may never get permanent, full time work.”

Booming areas like Griffith were likely to have had an impact on employment figures, with the Hanwood Baiada poultry plant ramping up production and construction of chicken sheds happening across the area.

McWilliam’s Wines is also set to move its bottling operations to Hanwood.

“Investment in the region is creating a large number of employment opportunities and this may become a problem for some employers,” Mr Foley said. “Nonetheless it’s a good problem to have.”