PM set to make more trips to SA

Two visits in two weeks and South Australians can expect to see a lot more of Tony Abbott.

The prime minister toured a meat processing plant in the Adelaide Hills on Friday.

On his last trip he named Adelaide as the principal site for the construction of next fleet of Navy frigates and kicked off construction on a road project the commonwealth is helping to fund.

Mr Abbott has also flagged an imminent announcement on federal help for another road project in the city's north.

The theme across all this is jobs, with the prime minister acutely aware that if the coalition can help rein in SA's surging unemployment, it will go a long way to retaining its local seats at the next federal election.

"You can expect lots of visits," he said.

"For too long, too many people have been talking down South Australia.

"This is a great state. I want the people of South Australia to grasp a better future. To achieve all the things that they dream about."

However, he conceded SA had been dealt some bad economic news in recent months.

Jobs have been lost across the state, particularly in the mining and manufacturing sectors.

The state still has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 7.9 per cent and it's likely to get worse before it gets better.

Alinta Energy will close its SA power stations and the Leigh Creek coal mine within the next 18 months, costing about 400 jobs, and Holden will close its car assembly plant in Adelaide in 2017, with the loss of more than 1000 jobs.

Mr Abbott said the federal government was doing everything it could to help ease the state's jobs crisis.

"Building more roads, faster. Bringing forward orders for major naval shipbuilding," he said.

"These are all things that this government is doing now so that the people of South Australia can have hope and confidence in a great future."