SOUTH Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis has defended the state's economic performance after new data showed increasing unemployment.
Mr Koutsantonis conceded the state's 7.1 per cent jobless rate, the highest on the Australian mainland, was "not good".
But he said it would be worse had the government not invested in a major infrastructure program.
"We've done the prudent thing by investing in economic infrastructure," he said on Friday.
"We're not borrowing money to pay wages. We're borrowing money to build bridges, roads, productive infrastructure that's going to build our economy."
The treasurer said some sectors of the state's economy were performing well with exports, retail trade and building approvals all increasing.
He said the one area where the state was hurting was manufacturing which had been impacted by the high Australian dollar.
The impending loss of jobs when Holden closes in the coming years and if defence work is scaled back by the federal government will also affect the state's manufacturing sector.
In figures released on Thursday, SA's jobless rate in March hit a 12-year high.
It rose 0.4 percentage points at the same time as unemployment fell in other states.
The opposition said it was further evidence of a jobs crisis and called on the state government to provide tax relief to business.
"South Australia is in the midst of a dangerous jobs crisis," Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said.
"For 12 years, the government has failed to create an environment that encourages and supports business growth in South Australia.
"What South Australia needs is a government that will take its handbrake off the economy and back business to create jobs."
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