WHILE the national unemployment rate is on the way down, joblessness is on the rise at Wentworthville.
Eighteen workers will be out of work when a women's underwear distribution centre closes.
A spokesman for Pacific Brands, the owner of Berlei, confirmed the Dunmore Street centre is on the market.
He said the centre would close in mid-April but the Bonds headquarters, located on the same site and employing 135 people, would continue to operate.
Pacific Brands will cut 106 jobs in Sydney, many at Minto, and create 76 full-time jobs at Truganina in Melbourne.
The spokesman said: "It's a much more efficient site, close to air and seaports and close to the rail".
He said most of the employees have low-level skills which would be easily transferable to other industries.
The firm cut more than 200 jobs from their Wentworthville operation when it moved production overseas in 2009.
National employment data released last week indicated the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.1 per cent.
However, small-area labor markets data for the September to December quarter of 2011, show the unemployment rate in Holroyd, the district Wentworthville falls into, is 6.3 per cent.
National Union of Workers spokesman Mark Ptolemy said the decision was callous and disloyal to Pacific Brands workers in Sydney.
"The workers had no warning about this decision," he said.
Mr Ptolemy said the union will be lobbying NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to take some action, because it was a shame the jobs would be moved out of NSW.
He said the workers were now dealing with how to readjust their lives.
"Many of them had worked for the company for a long time and are at an age when it may be difficult to find jobs."
On a visit to Ontera Modular Carpets in Northmead this week Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Parramatta's manufacturers had an important role to play in employing local people.
He said it was an example of a successful local business that had provided employment for locals for two decades. Mr Abbott said the Australian manufacturing industry was under pressure. Many industries once based in the area have moved overseas, resulting in job loses.
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