Stark new figures have emerged showing Mandurah has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation - with a further seven areas across the state with jobless rates above the national average.
Overall, Australia's unemployment rate fell to 5.72 per cent in July, continuing a downward trend seen since the beginning of 2015 and standing at its lowest level since September 2013.
That's good for Australia - but in Mandurah, unemployment is close to double the national rate at 10.5 per cent.
The only place in Australia with a higher jobless rate than WA's second-largest city is Outback Queensland with 13.7 per cent.
Using statistics from the ABS, CommSec compiled this table showing that while unemployment varies wildly across Australia, West Aussies are doing it tough across the state with Mandurah head and shoulders above the rest.
The CommSec figures are annual average rates that help to smooth out volatility in the original data presented by the ABS - but the numbers are still painful for WA.
The state's overall average for unemployment is a flat 6 per cent, just higher than the national average.
Around the compass in Perth it's a similar story: the Greater Perth area has 6 per cent, Perth North-East 6.3 per cent, Perth North-West 6.3 per cent, Perth South-West 6.2 per cent and Perth South-East 5.6 per cent.
Further afield, the WA Outback came in at 6.4 per cent and the Wheatbelt had 6 per cent.
The only areas to beat the national jobless average in the state are Bunbury at 4.4 per cent and Perth Inner with 3.8 per cent.
Chief economist at Commsec Craig James said the economy is not growing quickly enough to mop up existing labour market slack, and is calling for a further rate cut from the RBA in November to help address this problem.
"Unemployment is historically low on average across the country. But there is still plenty of work to be done by federal and state governments and by the Reserve Bank in generating stronger growth and thus reducing jobless rates even further," Mr James said.
Mandurah MP David Templeman said the statistics were alarming, and demonstrated that government of all levels had to double their efforts in not only creating new jobs, but protecting existing ones.
“It seems to me that Mandurah and our region really does need specific attention to ensure these statistics do not continue to rise and multi generational unemployment does not become the norm,” he said.
“We must mount a strong buy local campaign.
“Making sure that people understand that every dollar they spend locally not only can create a job but can also save a job during economic downturn.
“More than ever we need to have a campaign about supporting local jobs, we need to look at how the three levels of government can impact on job creation.”
