Wagga economy still strong despite JobSeeker rise across Riverina, Business Chamber says

The latest federal Department of Social Services data showed the number of people receiving JobSeeker payments from Centrelink in Wagga and the Riverina increased by about 4.3 per cent during December.

Wagga saw a net increase of more than 100 people receiving JobSeeker between November and December, to a total of 2545 people.

The Riverina saw an increase of more than 230 people during the same time to a total of 5653 people receiving JobSeeker payments.

It was the first time the city and region's JobSeeker numbers had increased since July last year, which coincided with the introduction of regional lockdowns during the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Wagga business Chamber business manager Serena Hardwick said COVID-19 isolation might be preventing some people from working.

"There are two things that are impacting employment at the moment: one is that there is obviously the situation of some in the workforce being unable to participate due to isolation, though the changes to mandatory isolation periods are easing that pressure," she said.

"The second is that casual employment in hospitality is being affected by a slowdown in foot traffic and January is a quite time in Wagga anyway; I am assuming that February will see the employment market pick up."

Griffith and its surrounding region and Narrandera saw some of the worst results eight per cent increases in the number of people on JobSeeker while Junee and the Tumut region saw two per cent decreases.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is due this week to release the unemployment rate for the Riverina and Ms Hardwick said she was confident the region would follow a drop in the national rate.

"When the Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe visited Wagga he said the Riverina economy would be growing for a long time," she said.

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