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The release by the ABS of their original, unadjusted regional labour force data allows us to update our own Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment Trend series for Queensland. What we see is the employment picture improving much better in the Rest of QLD than Greater Brisbane with Cairns now a star performer.
Last week we saw the ABS Trend data for QLD showing employment growth running at 1.5% pa in March. Today’s Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend shows us that in Greater Brisbane the pace of growth is just 1.0% with an additional 12,800 added to Trend employment over the past 12 months; in the Rest of QLD Trend employment has lifted by 23,200 at a rate of 1.9% pa. Full time positions have been increasing more rapidly in Greater Brisbane (up 25,800) than in the Rest of QLD (up 19,000), but in the Rest of QLD part-time employment also lifted (up 4,300) while in Greater Brisbane part-time positions fell 13,000.
With the Trend unemployment rate in QLD at 5.9% (versus 5.0% nationwide) the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend unemployment rate in Greater Brisbane is now 6.1% with it standing at just 5.7% in the Rest of Queensland.
When we consider our own region we see Trend employment in Cairns lifted another 1,900 in Mar and is now up 16,900 for the past 12 months (+15.1% pa). Most of this growth has come in full-time employment with the Trend unemployment rate now at 3.9% (down from 4.0% in Feb). A stronger Participation Rate (up 5.4 ppts over the year) highlights the underlying strength of the Cairns labour market. Youth unemployment, in particular, has fallen sharply over the course of the past 12 months and now stands at just 9.1% (one of the lowest rates across the State).
To our south in Townsville things look significantly worse. Trend employment was unchanged in March but is down 1,700 (at a rate of -1.5% pa) for the year. The Trend unemployment rate now sits at 6.8% but this would be far higher were it not for the fact that the Trend Participation Rate has fallen very sharply over the course of the year (down 3.7 ppts). Also of concern is the fact that full-time employment is down 3,300; only an increase in part-time positions is stopping a much faster rate of decline in Trend employment.
The full Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment Trend data for QLD is available for download below. Please feel free to use this data but kindly acknowledge Conus/CBC Staff Selection when you do so.
Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment Trend QLD – Mar 2019
We are proud to have CBC Staff Selection as supporters of the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend Employment and Jobseeker data series
April 24th, 2019 at 10:00 am
Townsville is, sad to say, doomed. We have lost our fortunes there but now is the time to suck up our losses and leave. It’s just a government outpost now with almost no private economy. Time to call it:
RIP Townsville, Cairns is the capital of the North.
April 27th, 2019 at 10:50 pm
Sad but true, private investment has collapsed in Townsville over the last few years, the city should be used as an example of how govt spending will not save an economy and that failed local leadership and a subsequent collapse in confidence quickly erode any gains that govt spending would normally give.
April 28th, 2019 at 1:35 am
Glen, thanks for the comment. Always interesting to get the local perspective from you.
Cheers,
Pete