The jobless rate was a key issue during the election campaign with Labor making much of the Newman Government inheriting its 5.5 per cent unemployment rate in 2012 and overseeing it become one of the highest in the nation.

Last month, Queensland saw the second highest rate in mainland Australia, with seasonally adjusted at 6.5 per cent and trend, the data set Treasurer Curtis Pitt said he would refer to, at 6.5 per cent.

 

After three years of lambasting the LNP over its job creation plan, given the unemployment issues facing Queensland, Labor is now faced with the issue itself.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said jobs remained a key government focus, but didn't shy away from invoking a little help from above.

"I'm praying for some improvement in Queensland and we are working hard to deliver improvements," she said.

"Business knows that we are opening up this state for investment and enterprise.

"We are hoping and working for a change in the unemployment figures…but I want Queenslanders to know that we are working very hard to provide employment opportunities and to provide jobs growth here in Queensland."

Nearly half of the state's 89 electorates have an unemployment rate higher than the state average, with Woodridge claiming an unemployment rate of more than 14 per cent.

Ms Trad said the government was working on a strategic plan to tackle the issue.

"We are re-implementing the things that worked in terms of generating jobs for Queenslanders that were axed by the former Newman Government," she said, which included its prized Skilling Queensland for Work program.

But with key projects such as the Galilee Basin still up in the air, a project the LNP was relying on to help turn around the state's unemployment as the gas industry moved from construction to production and shed jobs, the Opposition remains sceptical the government is doing enough.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the March figures on Thursday.

State by state unemployment rates in February 

Seasonally adjusted:

·         New South Wales - 6.3 per cent, unchanged from January

·         Victoria - 6 per cent, down from 6.6 per cent

·         Queensland - 6.7 per cent, up from 6.5 per cent

·         South Australia - 6.9 per cent, down from 7.2 per cent

·         Western Australia - 5.8 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent

·         Tasmania - 6.6 per cent, unchanged

Trend:

·         New South Wales – 6.3 per cent, up from 6.2 per cent

·         Victoria – 6.3 per cent, down from 6.4 per cent

·         Queensland – 6.5 per cent, down from 6.6 per cent

·         South Australia – 7.0 per cent, up from 6.9 per cent

·         Western Australia - 5.8 per cent, up from 5.7 per cent

·         Tasmania – 6.5 per cent, down from 6.6 per cent

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics.