Table 3 Unemployment rates by state Seasonally adjusted, per cent NSW  VIC  QLD  WA  SA  TAS  September 1991  9.4  10.3  9.4  10.6  10.4  10.6  Current (July 2010)  5.6  5.5  5.6  4.4  5.1  6.5  Source: ABS.
Prime-age labor force participation was the highest in over a decade, and a high proportion of households saw jobs as “plentiful.” 1 Overall wage growth was moderate, but wages were rising more rapidly for earners on the lower end of the scale.