The gloomy stat behind Cairns’ good-looking unemployment rate

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Pete Faulkner - Cairns, Jobs, NSW, Uncategorized, VIC

Although Cairns’ unemployment rate looks wonderful (4.6% Trend & 4.1% s.a. Conus/CBC Staff Selection series) there is a gloomy statistic which highlights how far behind the rest of the State the region is tracking. When we consider the rate of employment growth in Cairns relative to other places across the nation the impact of the tourism ‘lock-out’ caused by the border closures becomes all too evident.

Nationally employment growth to August was tracking at +3.1% seasonally adjusted, while in QLD the pace was at +4.6%. However, in Cairns seasonally adjusted employment is down 4.7% for the year; even worse than Greater Sydney where they had been in lock-down for two months at the time of these results!

The apparent paradox is caused by a sharp fall in participation in Cairns (down 2.5 ppts for the year to Aug) which means that, although employment is down (-6,500) so are the number unemployed (-1,100); Cairns has lost 7,600 people from its labour force over the past 12 months (a decline of 5.3%).