WA is faring best in the country for employment rates, according to figures released today.
Australia's unemployment rate was 5.3 per cent in November, up 0.1 per cent from October, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.
However WA is sitting on 4.3 per cent, registering no change from last month.
Deutsche Bank senior economist Phil O'Donaghoe said there seemed to be a growing divide between the mining and other states.
"We're not surprised that the strongest figures were in Western Australia, and we saw that in the GDP figures as well," he said.
"There seems to be a dichotomy at the moment between WA and the rest of Australia."
Nation-wide, total employment fell 6,300 to 11.457 million in the month, while the participation rate dropped 0.1 of a per cent to 65.5 per cent.
AMP Chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said the figures showed the jobs market was softening.
"Until recently it was the one strong patch of the economy outside mining but quite clearly the jobs market is giving way as well," he said.
Dr Oliver said businesses were shedding jobs to cope with a weaker than expected economy.
"The economy outside mining has been quite week so companies have had to start laying people off to get their costs under control."
He said the figures meant it was likely the Reserve Bank of Australia would cut interest rates by up to 50 basis points early next year.
"The reality is we'll probably see more weakness going forward which I think will justify more rate cuts next year."
