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The February labour force data from the ABS shows a stunning surge in employment which has taken the number in work back to virtually the same level as a year ago, pre-COVID (actually -0.01% y/y). Employment jumped a thumping 88,700 (with full-time employment up 89,100) and while participation remained unchanged the headline unemployment rate fell from (a revised) 6.3% in January to 5.8% in Feb.
The fact that so many of the new jobs were full-time is reflected in the fact that hours worked per capita also jumped, after a weak reading in Jan, and is now back to levels not seen since March last year.
The data was just as encouraging in Queensland. Here an extra 23,900 found work (at a rate of growth of 1.3%), and a staggering 53,800 found full-time positions. Full-time employment has never been higher in Queensland and now sits 2.3% higher than a year ago. A slight fall in participation added to this very strong employment growth saw the headline unemployment rate fall to 6.1% (below where it sat a year earlier) and hours worked per capita leap to 87.2 hours (it’s highest since Dec 2019).
Next week the ABS release their original regional labour force data and we will be updating the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend & s.a. series for all the Queensland regions.
We are proud to have CBC Staff Selection as supporters of the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend Employment and Jobseeker data series