Today saw the release by the Dept of Social Services of the April jobseeker data and allows us to update and release our own Conus/CBC Staff Selection Jobseeker Trend series.
The original, unadjusted data for Cairns (made up of 5 relevant SA3 areas) shows the number of jobseekers decreased slightly in March and the Trend continued to move very slightly lower (down 28 to 9,103 after some downward revision to the March numbers). In Townsville (made up of the 2 relevant SA3 areas) we saw the original number also fall and here too the Trend continued to drop (down 69 to 7,526).
While this data cannot be compared to the monthly Conus/CBC Staff Selection Employment Trend (see here for latest details), it is worth noting that we are seeing a slowdown in the rate of decline of jobseeker numbers in Cairns which corresponds to the stalling of employment growth witnessed in the latest Conus/CBC Staff Selection Employment Trend data. This is also now been seen in a small increase in the Trend Jobseeker Rate which compares Trend Jobseekers to Trend Labour Force data; this aligns with the increase in the Trend unemployment rate we have noted in Cairns over recent months.
The full data-set for the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Jobseeker Trend is available for download below. Please feel free to use this data (for non-commercial purposes) but please ensure that you reference the source as “Conus/CBC Staff Selection Jobseeker Trend” when you do so.
Conus/CBC Staff Selection Jobseeker Trend – Apr 2018