Is it a hard decision? Comparing two of New South Wales’ most beautiful regions seems to be on the surface particularly difficult. Long sandy beaches, remarkable properties and each an oasis from the city grind.

If you are a jobseeker however, the differences between the Richmond Tweed and Sydney’s Northern beaches could not be more pronounced. The former, has NSW’s highest unemployment rate of 8.5%, whilst Sydney’s Northern Beaches has the lowest at 2.2%. Finding a job in the Richmond Tweed area can be very difficult, whilst on the Northern Beaches, a business can be stuck with the problem of not being able to secure appropriate talent. From data provided by the ABS, here is a complete picture for NSW’s unemployment by region. As would be expected, NSW’s regional areas have the highest unemployment (other than the Riverina), whilst inner Sydney has the lowest rates.

Here are some interesting demographics regarding NSW’s worst and best regions in terms of unemployment: Richmond Tweed

Northern Beaches

The standout differences are the participation and employment rates. Also refer to the population by age http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/LFR_SAFOUR/NSW/RichmondTweed_LFR_LM_Population_AgeGroup http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/LFR_SAFOUR/NSW/GreaterSydney/SydneyNorthernBeaches_LFR_LM_Population_AgeGroup

The bottom line is that finding work or securing the best talent in NSW differs depending on the region where you are looking. It seems obvious, but our labour market is considerably more complex than most expect. Every year, people2people produces a market snapshot which includes labour force data, information on salaries and benefits, as well as trends overall. This snapshot is called the p2p post and you can secure your own copy here. http://www.people2people.com.au/post/index.html