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The release by the ABS of the Sept original regional labour force data today allows us to update our Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend for the QLD regions. With the state-wide Trend unemployment rate lifting to 6.6% (see commentary earlier) it is no surprise to see the Trends at a regional level also higher. In Greater Brisbane we see the unemployment rate at 6.4% (unch for the year) while in the Rest of QLD it is up to 6.8% (up 0.8 ppts for the year). Employment in Greater Brisbane is growing at 3.0% (better than state and national rates of 2.4%) while in the Rest of QLD it is just 1.8%.
In our own region Cairns continues to enjoy solid employment growth (up 14,100 or 11.9% for the year) but a surge in participation (which takes it to a 6 1/2 year high) has caused the Trend unemployment rate to lift to 6.2%. Encouragingly for Cairns, almost all employment growth over the year has come in the full-time sector with only very modest gains in part-time positions. The Trend median time searching for work has also been falling quite sharply and now sits at just 10 weeks; well below the regional average of 18 weeks and down 3 months from a year ago.
In Townsville, which has been coming off a very low base, employment growth continues (up 3.1% for the year) although here too increased participation has meant that the Trend unemployment rate remains elevated at 8.8%. The big difference for Townsville is that participation is still well down on historic levels (although at its best in 18 months). Youth unemployment in Townsville is a particular concern (19.5%) and is the 4th worst in the state.
The full Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend data set 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 Trend Regional Employment QLD – Sept 2019
We are proud to have CBC Staff Selection as supporters of the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend Employment and Jobseeker data series