Region. Quarter of unemployed

A Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations labour market report revelaed the number of people on government benefits increased 6.4 per cent to 666,830 in the year to August . Claims in Auburne soared 16.4 per cent. An extra 4640 people joined diole queues in NSW Centrelink offices over the past year, 2499 of them in Sydney’s west including Auburn, Campsie, Bankstown, Blacktown, Ingleburn, Parramatta, Cabramatta, Penrith, Mt Druitt and St Marys. A breakdown of federal government data showis Western Sydney is now home to more than a quarter of the state’s unemployed – 24,551 people.