South Australia's unemployment rate has surged to its highest level in 18 months, but the state government has defended its record on jobs.
Figures released on Thursday put the jobless rate at 6.3 per cent in January compared to 5.9 per cent in December.
South Australia is performing better than Tasmania and Western Australia but its numbers trail those of Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.
Premier Steven Marshall said while the rate "will always jump around", the state is heading in the right direction.
"If you look at where we were 12 months ago, there's a significant increase in employment," he told reporters.
But Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said the total number of employed South Australians had decreased since the election of the Liberal government last March.
"Just yesterday, Premier Steven Marshall said 'there will be more work than we can cope with in South Australia', but the raw data paints a very different picture," he said.
"We've seen the Liberals cut 29 job-creating programs."
Industry and Skills Minister David Pisoni said the latest job figures showed steady growth in the South Australian economy but increases in the unemployment rate showed there's more to be done to grow and diversify the local labour market.
"That is why the Marshall Liberal government's plan to create more than 20,800 apprenticeships and traineeships over four years is critically important," he said.
"This will drive employment growth and ensure that we have the skills necessary to diversify into new industries such as Defence, space, cybersecurity and entrepreneurship.
