GYMPIE residents were offered the best of a bad situation this year when unemployment struck a five year high but still remained among the best rates in the Wide Bay.

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal Gympie’s jobless rate hit 9.2 per cent in June, with 2005 people officially hunting for a job.

This was the worst level since December 2015, when unemployment was 9.6 per cent; it was also the fifth worst quarter recorded in the region over the past decade.

It was a 1 per cent jump from March’s unemployment figures, which were captured before the government enforced lockdown around the country.

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The surge in Gympie’s unemployment was double what was felt on average across regional Queensland and Queensland (6.1 per cent in March to 6.4 per cent apiece) and Australia (5.2 per cent to 5.6 per cent).

However, the region still fared better than most of its Wide Bay neighbours.

Between March and June Bundaberg’s unemployment rate jumped from 8.9 per cent to 9.8 per cent; on the Fraser Coast it surged from 10.1 per cent to 11.3 per cent; and in the South Burnett, unemployment levels spiked from 10.3 per cent to 11.1 per cent.

The only part of the Wide Bay with healthier job prospects was Noosa, where the jump was a mere 0.4 per cent, from 5.1 per cent to 5.5 per cent.