In particular, the standard deviation of the unemployment rate across the 87 individual regions for which the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publishes data is markedly lower than it was at the turn of the century.
6 / 16  BIS central bankers' speeches  It is also worth noting that the average unemployment rate outside the capital cities is lower than the average unemployment rate in the capital cities for the first time in a long while (Graph 7). The gap between the participation rates for prime-aged workers in the capital cities and outside the capitals has also narrowed.