The Australian Democrats have been monitoring Australian Bureau of Statistics trend employment data for some time, and today welcomed a sign of real employment improvement in South Australia.

The Australian Democrats use trend data because it is less vulnerable to statistical aberrations than seasonally adjusted or original figures.

"At last we are making ground on national employment growth," Australian Democrats leader, Mike Elliott said today.

"While national trend unemployment stayed steady, South Australian trend employment fell by 0.3% to 7.2%.

"When the Liberal government came to office in 1993 we were only 0.4% behind the national trend unemployment rate, the gap this month is now back under 1%.

"While there was a minor drop in the trend participation rate for the state, both total and full time employment improved in trend terms.

"The challenge now is for the state government to build on this foundation and reach its goal of getting South Australia’s trend unemployment rate back down to national levels."