Unemployment disparity across regions

The resources boom, globalisation and other global economic forces have raised questions about whether employment and unemployment outcomes in regional Australia have become more unequal. This paper examines how the dispersion of unemployment across regions has changed over time. Our results show that unemployment dispersion has narrowed as the aggregate level of unemployment has declined. This relationship has not changed over the course of the current resources boom and is consistent with similar outcomes in the United States and the United Kingdom.