Three of the Far South Coast's biggest sources of jobs are hospitals, aged care and supermarkets.
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These industries also rank among the top five employers in NSW.
![Hospitals are among the largest employers both on the Far South Coast, and NSW overall. File picture Hospitals are among the largest employers both on the Far South Coast, and NSW overall. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/STpQM5Vvsbti6rb6q4bNft/511d8602-025a-4d89-a3da-4d2c86d1acd2.jpg/r0_191_2048_1342_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
After that however, the most important industries for employment differ markedly between the Eurobodalla and the Bega Valley local government areas (LGAs), as well as from NSW overall.
The latest 2021 Census data, released on October 12 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, showed that a lower percentage of the Far South Coast population was in the labour force compared with the state overall.
These differences were most marked in the Eurobodalla. The percentage of population not in the workforce (47.5 per cent) was higher than the proportion that was working (45 per cent).
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Older population
Yet looking at employment status, the rate of unemployment was lower in the Far South Coast than in NSW.
This likely reflected the older demographic of the Far South Coast.
While the median age in NSW was 39, it was 52 in the Bega Valley and 54 in the Eurobodalla LGA.
That may explain why work force participation was lower on the Far South Coast - its population was older and therefore more retirees.
Similarly, the Far South Coast's older demographic meant the percentage of the population available to work was smaller and therefore it was easier for those wanting to work to find employment.
That would go some way to explaining the lower unemployment rate compared with NSW overall.
The data also showed that a lower proportion of Far South Coast residents worked full-time, but the percentage of people working part-time was around one-third higher than in the state.
Again, that may reflect the older population of the Far South Coast. More people opted to work part-time as they transitioned towards retirement.
Cheese, cafes, caravans and council?
In NSW the top five industries for employment were hospitals (4.2 per cent), supermarkets and grocery stores (2.5 per cent), other social assistance (2.4 per cent), computer design and related services (2.3 per cent) and aged care residential services (2.2 per cent).
Like the overall state figures, hospitals were the biggest employer in the Bega Valley, but only ranked the fourth largest sector in Eurobodalla.
Rather, Eurobodalla's most important industry for employment was aged care residential services. The sector provided work for 4.1 per cent of the population versus 2.2 per cent in NSW.
Supermarkets and grocery stores were a more important employer in the Far South Coast than in the overall state.
Cheese and other dairy product manufacturing was the fourth largest source of jobs in the Bega Valley LGA but didn't count among the top five employers in Eurobodalla LGA.
Less obvious findings included that the accommodation sector was the fifth biggest employer in the Bega Valley while in the Eurobodalla LGA it was cafes and restaurants, higher than the state overall.
Local government administration was also a major source of employment in the Eurobodalla LGA, its third-largest industry, accounting for 3.5 per cent of jobs versus 1.3 per cent in NSW.
Yet the population of the Eurobodalla LGA was 40,953, not much larger than the Bega Valley LGA's 35,942. Local government administration did not rank among the Bega Valley's five top industries for employment.
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