Unemployment drops in regional Australia but ballooning vacancies forecast bigger issues

Report finds a diminished labour pool is impacting productivity across regions and driving the rapid increase in job advertising

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Unemployment in regional Australia has dropped below the magic 4% but experts say the outcome is double-edged", as surging vacancies amid a shallow labour pool looms as the bigger issue.

Ballooning vacancies are already beginning to constrain development across whole regions and multiple industries beyond farm labour shortages.

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